The Pearl of the Uchiha
by Sasukenoneko
Summary: Sakura quest for a legendary pearl missing for hundreds of years leaves her on a man hunt for missing friend. After entrusting him to retrieve a the pearl, she unknowningly dives into the dark world of Akatsuki. Trapped in a mission that could be her last, could team Taka provide the help she needs?[Sasusaku]
1. Chapter 1

Hello readers! The story gets more action packed and juicy as you keep reading, please stick with it! I plan to make it into a long and adventurous story. It will expand way past the little town of Konoha and into the world of our beloved Akatsuki with lots of twists and turns (and romance sprinkled around here and there)! Stay tuned!

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The pale moon stood bright in the lonely night sky. The busy town of Konohagakure was finally settling down on a late winters night...

Wrapped in a thick maroon overcoat with a white scarf, a pink haired girl comfortably treaded through the dark streets. As it could be noted, Haruno Sakura had never been afraid of being in alone the dark. Alone and cold now seemed to be a constant theme in her life.

It had been two years since reuniting with that damn boy and the tiniest details of that meeting haunt her all too often. Running through Orochimaru's tunnels, chasing Sai. Looking up and catching the eye of none other than Uchiha Sasuke. It was hard for her to see how much he had changed without her. She had no other option but to change as well.

Sakura forced herself to focus on her own legacy all the time now. He had her slips when she would yearn for him, but would quickly mask it with tasks and research to keep her busy. It wasn't like he was effected by their separation. Logically, she shouldn't be either.

Her role was now that of an important member of Konoha. Her research to Konoha's medical advancement has given her lots to do, and especially as the apprentice to the Hokage, she was highly regarded. She held an important seat as the supervisory specialist for medical research at Konoha Hospital. It was a very busy position that required heavy loads of researching at all times, perfect to keep her mind preoccupied.

After hours of tedious medical research, her brain would admitingly begin to hover her towards the forbidden Uchiha scrolls in the library. Her long nights in the forbidden section lead her to longer hunts for ancient relics and more scrolls across the land. Honestly, her fascination with study did turn her into a somewhat of recluse along the years. She would still partake in missions here and there, but not alongside her usual friends from the academy.

Her best friend now was the librarian Miki, along with her brother Sageki. Once in a while Naruto would return to Konoha from his training with Jiraya. Ino was busy with her flower shop. Sakura would get lonely but felt comfortable to continue her studies with simply Miki and Sageki along side her. She accepted that she would probably be a lone wolf until the day she died, but she at least hoped to pass on a legacy that could change the world.

Her legacy was currently fixated on finding an ancient Pearl. It was said to unlock unlimited healing and regeneration, but most importantly- it was rumored to have the ability to bring back the dead! Resurrection had struck deep with Sakura her after the fight against the Akatsuki member Sasori. The sad loss of Chiyo in exchange for the revival of Gaara brought Sakura a deep woe. When she got home, her attempts at searching for ancient techniques began. If Chiyo had been taught this technique for reviving the dead, and kept it a secret for so long, there had to be other ways- long forgotten. From this epiphany, Sakura dedicated herself to important research for Konoha's medical teams. She would submit her research to the counsel for approval, creating missions to gather further information.

In her most recent mission, Sakura built up years of information about the pearl. She sent off Sageki to lead this important research. Sageki was a young shinobi who worked as a glass maker for the Konoha weapons department. He was still a low ranking shinobi, which made Sakura the subject of ridicule for placing him as the lead ninja in her mission...even she had her doubts. She knew him well and saw how badly he wanted to prove himself. She knew him too well to forgo the rare opportunity to be sent out on a high ranking mission. More importantly, he was Sakura's dear friend and Miki's little brother, she cared for him.

Sakura sighed and looked up at the night sky, pleading to the lonely moon for his return soon.

On her long walk through the town, Sakura finally turned the corner to enter a small street lined with old houses. She slowly approached the little two story house at the end of the street. The lights were on inside. Sakura's stomach churned to knots. She sighed as she stood outside the foot of the house. Reaching into her maroon coat, she drew out a small gift box with a card attached to it. She stared at it for a long while, contemplating how much trouble she would get in if she just turned around and just went home. She was here to try to fix bad blood, but considered if it was really worth it. In that moment of hesitation- the door swung open and there stood the silhouette of an older man.

Sakura flashed an uncomfortable smile, unsure as to how long he had been standing behind the door watching her.

"Sakura chan!" hollered the big pink haired man at the door frame as he caringly reached out to hug her.

"Hello dad! I am sorry for being so late" she walked over to reciprocate the hug and entered the house she once called home. Her mother greeted her warmly as she removed her coat and shoes at the entranceway, tucking the present back into her coat. Sakura was wearing her favorite baggy green sweater that exposes her collarbones and her tight white jeans that reached to her calves. Her hair was noticeably disheveled. With no makeup on, the bags of sleepless nights are apparent on her face. She was a sight to see.

"Sakura! You look a mess! Where have you been?" announced her mother, helping Sakura enter the house.

"I'm sorry mother, I was working late at the clinic with Tsunade-sama over this strange-" she was interrupted by a knock on the door behind her.

Sakura stood still and confused for a moment. She counted her parents and herself, everyone was present. Another rap on the door alerted her again. She watched the eyes of her parents as she walked to the door and slowly opened it.

She peeked her head out shyly. There stood a tall and broad shouldered man in a thick black army coat and black gloves. His hair was combed over thick with gel and face sported a black goatee. He stood rigidly with a glee smile for a couple seconds. Sakura stood there in awkward silence awaiting a greeting or general rationale for knocking.

"Can I help you? Are you lost?" Sakura asked timidly after moments of silence.

Sakura's mother rushed to further open door, noticing the long pause.

"Sakura! Where are your manners?!" She reached a hand out and greeted the man. "Please come in! Such perfect timing, Sakura just arrived not a moment ago! Come in! Come in!" chirped Sakura's mother. Immediately Sakura stepped out of the hall and made eye contact with her father who stood there in equal surprise and confusion. The man bowed and removed his shoes, holding a large gift bag at the entrance.

"Sakura, this is Michiha Kotsuya. He is the son of my good friend Mariko! The one I met at game night at the community center. Im sure I've told you about her, we won the MaJong tournament last month" her mother chuckled a laugh then a sly grin.

Sakura knew that particular grin her mother used, a fake and mischievous grin, it always made her stomach turn. Michiha bowed down again and gave his formal introduction to the group in the hallway. He was stiff and akward. Sakura looked up at her father with a look of disgust as Michiha was bowing. Sakura's father rolled his eyes to Sakura and gave a helpless shrug. Sakura's mother politely invited the young man to join them in the dinning room, as dinner had already been set.

Sakura turned to the man as her parents began to lead them into the dinning room, "so sad your mother couldn't make our family dinner tonight, I wonder what happened- it must be very drastic, seeing as how my mother and her are such gooood friends." Sakura remarked to the man with a sarcastic tone. Michiha gave a playful smile at Sakura as she faced him. She gave a disturbed pause as she watched him look her up and down for moment before commenting. The back of her hairs curled for a moment in disgust as she caught his eyes undress her- her parents had their backs turned to them as they continued into the dinning room.

"Well, she came down with some food poisoning, unfortunately. She sends her regards! Oh! and a Happy Birthday to your mother. I brought a gift on our behalf!" he turned to give Sakura's mother as they entered the dinning room. He held out the large gift bag he had been holding to her mother as she turned to him. Sakura's mother was smitten, cooing that he shouldn't have and pretending to feel embarrassed. Both Sakura and her father were fairly annoyed by the mans presence and march to quietly to their usual spots on the table. Michiha and Sakura's mother followed in pursuit and they all sat down.

"Wow! This looks amazing did you cook this all by yourself? It looks done professionally" Michiha praised Sakura's mother at the large quantity of food set on the table. Sakura's mother laughed and directed his seat on the table, which happened to be right next to Sakura. Irritated by the seat arrangement, Sakura shifted closer towards her father.

Sakura's mother and Mimiha continued to exchange compliments back and forth while Sakura rolled her eyes at her father.

"If you're lucky you'll only leave here with food poisoning like your mother", Sakura mumbled aloud to herself within earshot for Mimiha to catch. Sakura's mother heard as well and glared an entire lecture at her in an instant from across the table. Michiha smiled nervously.

"I'm so sorry for Sakura's behavior-Kotsuya san, she has just been a bit depressed after finding out one of her boyfriends was" and she whispered the rest of the sentence as though no one else could hear," an international criminal. You _know_ how girls are…" commented Sakura's mother with a smug smile and a giggle as she began to set her plate with food. Sakura sat absolutely terrified at her mothers brazen comment.

Sakura's father also gawked with his mouth open before he quickly tried to change the subject of the conversation. His goal was to be able to at least finish the roast lamb before someone exploded and the scene turned into chaos, much like the other nights Sakura would visit.

"Who are you to be telling people my life?!" Sakura blurted out in disbelief.

"So Kotsuya what do you do for work?" interjected Sakura's dad, trying to prevent a scene.

"I'm a bounty hunter for an agency across town" he said with a matter-of-fact tone. A smile swept across Mimiha's face as he gazed the nervous looks of everyone across the table. "Don't worry! Your secrets safe with me!" he chuckled with his hands up."You've already passed all the background checks money could buy! I trust a cute little thing like yourself isn't harboring any wanted criminals" Mimiha said with a smile as he tried to lighten the tension in the room.

Sakura's eyes were as wide as an owls at the moment. Words wouldn't escape her open mouth...shock had paralyzed her. She now had a stalker, great.

Everyone in the room felt the air get more tense. Sakura wasn't sure which comment was more offensive, Sakura's boyfriend being an international criminal or the stalker to end all stalkers next her. She peered over at her father, her eyes wide open to confirm wether he had also heard what had just been said. Her father paused and mouthed the word 'birthday' to Sakura. He cut a large piece of roast lamb and quickly began shoveling it down his mouth. She inhaled deeply before letting out a big sigh. She should also try to keep the peace she reminded herself. Sakura began to serve herself food, attempting to excuse herself from the ongoing delightful conversation taking place about her between Mimiha and her mother.

"Oh! oh! Is your office in the big agency near the downtown area a few blocks down from the hospital?" Sakura's mother asked in an excited tone. "Because, _you know,_ Sakura works at the hospital right? on the fifth floor! Only the big wigs get to the fifth floor, right Sakura dear?" Sakura's mother chirped in. Sakura dropped her utensils in exasperation. Sakura ran her hand throught her pink hair- what kind of alcohol was she going to need to get through tonight? Was this relationship between her mother really worth saving? Her father was really the only one she wanted to see, and currently she was worried he was going to choke himself to death on lamb. Maybe it was a good idea, imminent death through asphyxiation was probably his only salvation at this point. She shook her head as she looked at him, he was so wise.

"No, I didn't know she did stay on the fifth floor. What type of high wig job do you do Sakura? You a secretary?" asked Michiha facing Sakura.

Sakura ate in silence and offered her dad some water before he left her to suffer the table conversation alone. Sakura's mother intercepted the question due to her lack of commentary.

" _Well_ , Sakura is actuallyan esteemed doctor at the hospital! She is training under the Hokage at the moment!" Sakura's mother proudly stated.

"Funny, your background checks didn't pop that up. Must not be that thorough, huh?" Sakura added slyly before Mimiha could reply. He took in her quick wit with a shake of the head.

"Brains and beauty. You must be so proud, Mr. and Mrs. Haruno! I can see where she gets it from" Mimiha chirped with a big smile as he began to pick at his plate full of food.

Sakura's could feel her stomach was starting to turn from all the brown-nosing. She would never let her mother hear the end of this once it had ended. She was unsure if it would ever end at this time point, it felt like she had been here an eternity already.

The end of the straw came quick once Michiha placed his hand on Sakura's thigh underneath the table, he looked at her to praise her, "such a noble cause to dedicate your lifes' work to healing the sick and-"

Sakura didn't hesitate to stab Mimiha's hand using the fork sitting on his plate. She smiled as he gave out a loud screech in pain. He shot up with the fork lodged in his hand.

"What did your intel tell you about a ninja trained to kill?" She bend her head and smiled at his screams,"don't take me lightly, if I heal- it is only to live to kill another day" she snapped at him.

Sakura's mother screamed with exacerbation while Sakura's father ran over to try to remove the fork from Mimiha's hand. He pulled the napkin out from underneath the plate in front of Mimiha, spilling all the food on his chest and lap. Sakura stood up with contempt as she looked over at her mothers disapproving eyes.

"This is exactly why you will never get a husband Sakura! Why do you have to say things like that in front of a good man like Kotsuya? He came all the way here to meet you tonight and you couldn't even keep your mouth shut for one night! Not even for _me,_ on **my** birthday!" wailed Sakura's mother.

"I don't want a husband! Just let me die alone, mother! Stop trying to live my life for me already, our goals are very different." Sakura barked at her mother.

" _OHH_ shut up! You haven't been the same since that stupid massacred orphan left the goddamn village. All my hopes and dreams for grandchild are crushed by your selfish actions!" Sakura's mother screamed intensely leaning halfway over the table to spit the words in Sakura's face in retaliation. Sakura's eyes glared at her mothers words. She pursed her lips and slammed her fist on the table-effectively cracking the table down the middle. Sakura's mother screeched in horror. "My grandmothers table!" she yelled as she held her held in disbelief.

Sakura's father sighed as he stood next to the alarmed man covered in food and bleeding through the napkin wrapped around his hand. This was indeed the dinner he had pictured in his mind earlier today. Something broken, someone bleeding and screams for the neighbors to talk about for weeks.

"You've ruined everything!" belched out Sakura's mother.

Sakura's father held a deep pity for Sakura, he knew what it effort it took for her to come. He placed a hand on Sakura's should and gave her a reassuring nod as he signaled for her to leave. He already predicted what Sakura would do, for the hundredth time. "Sakura, why don't you go in the kitchen and get yourself a cupcake on top of the stove?" she softly spoke to her with kindness and understanding. Her eyes, filled with shame, slowly looked up to meet his.

Sakura shot her eyes back at her mother as she began crying dramatically.

"lovely dinner.. wasn't even ten minutes in" commented Mimiha in shock as he held his bleeding hand. Sakura glared at Mimiha as she walked past him in silence.

"So..call me maybe?" he asked before Sakura disappeared into the hallway.

Sakura could hear her mothers cries continues. She began rambling on the many flaws of Sakura, through her sobs and tears.

Leaving the dining room and turning to the hallway entrance, Sakura grabbed her coat, shoes and scarf then she continued to the kitchen. She removed the present that was tucked into her coat and placed it next to the cupcakes on the stove. She looked at the card attached to the top of the present that spelled 'Happy Birthday Mommy!' with delicately cut paper.

She was wasn't expecting too much from tonight, but certainly better than this...she contemplated staying and apologizing for a split second. She promised herself she was going to try to make an effort. Just then, her mothers words replayed in her head- bad mouthing Sasuke. Sakura huffed in anger and didn't hesitate to turn to the kitchen window and jump out.

Being that it was within the top ten of the fastest family disaster dinners she has had in a while, Sakura to treat herself to some ichiraku ramen. She wanted to meet up with her old friend, who she knew had come back into town earlier that day.

He would surely be there.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a successful night of ichiraku ramen with Shino, Hinata and Naruto. Not her usual crowd, but she was glad to have Naruto's light hearted humor back. He was gone for weeks it seemed, his trips with Jiraya only seem to get longer and longer over time. She finds each meeting with him more precious than the last. He always has a way to get her mind off the intricacies of her daily problems, like mother's birthday. The conversation of the night carried on lively until midnight, leaving her tired and ready to retreat to the safe-haven of her apartment up near the center of the city.

Her small apartment didn't consist of much, but it was prime location-in downtown and close to the hospital. More than anything, it was a place she could be herself. Too small for much any furniture, Sakura's living room consisted of a singly cozy green couch, a bookcase, and a small coffee table. Her bedroom, a simple queen bed and a wardrobe dresser. the scattered books, scrolls and empty cups were her favorite decorations to her space. Despite all the hate received about her messy style in such a tight space, no one could convince her to move. At five stories up, the view from the fire escape outside her living room window was to die for. On a clear night, the view of the mountains and the downtown city lights from her window were breathtaking. Anyone could fall in love with Konoha All over again after witnessing these marvels.

She threw down her keys near a potted plant by the entrance and removed her coat. She left the lights off and slowly stripped her clothes off on her way to her shabby green couch. She tossed an old newspaper and a scroll off the couch and pulled her soft blanket from the corner of the couch up and over her. She stared out the living room window at the glory of the sparkling city in the dead of the night. The moon stood lonely, just gazing at Sakura while she continued admiring the glimmer of the city. She tried her best not to notice it watching her, but to no surprise her eyes eventually shifted up to give the moon the attention it craved. There, in its blooming beams, carried the beautiful memory of a boy she works so hard to ignore throughout each and everyday. Her bittersweet memories carried her off into a deep sleep, into a parallel universe where no one had ever broken her heart.

The large living room window let the morning rays gently wake her. Sakura stretched out like a cat, kicking off her blanket with a yawn. She got up and mindlessly started her usual morning routine, her mind still caught in her dreams. She hummed to herself while washing her mouth and face, preparing her coffee and putting her bread in the toaster. She stumbled around in a sleepy haze to gather her clothes for work among the books and weapons tossed around in her bedroom.

Finding her white coat on the floor, she bent over to pick it up. "BAM!" The edge of the dresser slammed into the tip of her head as she rose to assess the coat. "Shoot" Sakura yelled out and turned away from the dresser. With quick reflexes her hand shot out to catch the falling picture frame of team 7 she noticed in her peripheral. She rubbed her head and let out a deep sign of relief. She examined the picture frame to check for any damage...then rose up to place it back on her dresser.

Pausing at the picture lovingly, Sakura became lost in a memory. She was teleported to the day when the picture was taken, as though she were living it again.

She looked over at Sasuke, she could see the details in his hair. The complexion of his face, the youth in his skin. The verbal argument between Sasuke and Naruto that played out like an old song Sakura had heard a million times over. The cameraman got in position and asked them to please pose. Sakura was filled with such excitement, she could burst at any moment. Kakashi sensed the tension between the two boys and placed his hands on their heads in a fatherly manner- letting out a bashful grin. The camera snapped the photo and suddenly Sakura was returned back in her room.

The smell of burnt toast overtook the apartment as Sakura snapped out of her memory. She sprinted quickly to save her toast. The brown and black bread popped out in a judging manner. Sakura huffed as she swatted the smoke away. Giving up on her breakfast, she peered at the clock in her kitchen, twenty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Her eyes widened in quite the shock, she peered down at her charred toast with regret... Today wasn't turning out to be her day and she was only a couple minutes in. She left the toast and jolted back to her room. As she fumbled through the last of her clothes, the black shorts with the red tunic and the white overcoat. She decided to leave her coffee behind as well. She ran to the living room window after swinging her messengers bag over her head. She opened the window to reveal a nice cool breeze and a burst of fresh morning air invigorate her senses. She took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air and asking the day to be kind to her before heading out the window.

* * *

Making quick haste, Sakura arrived to her office at the hospital in just minutes, making her only ten minutes late. She decided it would be best to sneak in through her office window, on the third floor, so no one could notice her tardiness...Not that anyone cared, but Tsunade and Shizune were particular about time management when it came to her. She opened the window and entered silently with her back first, looking outside to ensure no one saw her.

Shizune was already sitting in Sakura's chair quietly. She watched Sakura enter through the window... Not yet halfway through entering from the window she felt Shizune's presence in the room. Her heart jumped and her eye twitched as she noticed she had been caught. There has always been a quietly strained and almost jealous tension from Shizune.

"Good morning Sakura chan" Shizune said in an sarcastically annoyed tone.

She turned around at breakneck speed to witness Shizune watching her. She tried to quickly straighten up and gave a slight bow.

"Good morning Shizune san. What lovely weather for winter huh?" she gulped. "What can I do for you this morning?" she said with a nervous smile.

Shizune frankly spoke as she stood up, "Well, I _was_ sent by Tsunade-sama to retrieve you for the monthly missions assessments meeting which started about ..uh...20 minutes ago..."

Sakura's face turned pale as she looked over at the giant clock...was that was today? Her breath escaped her as she stood there quietly in realization that today was friday, an important monthly meeting she should have came early for.

"I can see you're very busy girl. I will let Tsunade-sama know that you were too busy to make it. Maybe next month you won't be interested in joining" Shizune added with a wave as she got up and headed for the office door.

Yet another thing that Shizune could hold over her head as an incompetent apprentice to the Hokage.

"Shizune-san! I'm heading over there now!" Sakura yelled out as she turned to jump out the window. Today was definitely not her day.

Shizune turned to watch Sakura hopping out the door.

"Why on earth don't you ever use the door?!" Shizune shouted out, hoping Sakura heard her.

* * *

In a large luxurious room overseeing the national garden with large glass windows sat all the major heads of the various departments in Konohagakure. There sat 10 people in a circular table with Tsunade at the head. Tsunade looked around the room bored as the room continued with a lively discussion about expenses. Sakura entered the room squeamishly, bowing and excusing herself for being late to the meeting. Silence overcame the table as all eyes were followed her into the room slowly. Sakura took her seat before giving another slight bow.

The men across the room all seemed very put off by the hokage's apprentice. She was so young in comparison to the 50+ year old men, too young to be placed in such a seat of power in their opinion. Sakura always felt heavy pressure prove herself to them and this tardiness was not a fitting example of her. Her complaints would ring in the ear of Tsunade and out the other, Tsunade felt it was important Sakura learned how to behave under different types of stress and criticism.

Sakura was entrusted to represent health related research missions; Tsunade was initially in charge of those matters but handed it down to her. Sakura was still learning the ropes, but she was passionate about it. Tsunade would usually praise her for her groundbreaking research and successful missions, but her hard work fell short of gaining the approval of her critiques on the counsel, which was about everyone other than Tsunade.

"Well then" commented the newly appointed commander of the Anbu, who seemed to have alot to prove following the recent death of Danzo. He was easily the sketchiest looking old man in the room Sakura always thought to herself. He attempted to regain the attention of the table. "As I was saying, my report details that the Akatsuki have been found running through Kumogakure(cloud), Kirigakure (mist), Shimogakure (frost), and Yugakure (steam). Their expanding presence is drawing tension across the citizens of Konoha. It seems they are exploiting businesses, taking control of the black market and dipping their hands in politics to favor their disposition against the jinnchuriki's. They are drawing a lot of power and fear from the people across the various countries. Their goals and intentions are yet unclear but they are gaining a considerable amount of wealth and power in such short time. My men have…"

The Academic head, who sat across from Sakura interjected loudly, "WE ALL KNOW THAT KONOHA SHOULD BE OUT ATTACKING THEM BEFORE THEY ATTACK US!" and the table returned to another lively debate.

"We can't be going off into other territories attacking the Akatsuki! It would start wars" Tsunade repeated to the group for the hundredth time.

Watching the men chatter across the table collectively, Sakura wondered how anyone could possibly stay focused in this chaos. Especially when the information kept getting cut off for another debate. It was always the same people starting the ridiculous debates over and over again. Sakura looked over at Tsunade, resting her head in her hand in a bored fashion. Sakura never got the chance to say much at these meetings... so she continued on as usual, copying Tsunade before tuning out into her own little world.

Sakura's mind bubbled from the discussion in the background as she slipped into her own thoughts. 'mmm, Akatsuki huh?'...She began to think about Itachi. She remembered not too long ago being on a mission with Naruto- when Itachi made a surprise appearance. He swooped her up, carrying her off to safety on a giant clay bird. Her face was right next to his, she remembers the details on his face clearly. He looked so much like Sasuke, and at the same time completely different all together. His skin was so much softer than Sasuke's, so feminine. She remembered how gently he picked her up, like she was a fragile little glass...His hands were so careful and delicate. It was so hard to imagine him as the assasin of the Uchiha clan. His personality was completely different than everything she had ever heard about him, everything she thought he would be like. She remembered him coming to haunt Sasuke before he left, how it shook Sasuke to the core. Yet, Itachi had so many chances to kill Sasuke, why would he come knocking on his bloody front door for christ sake. It drive Sakura insane, it was like a puzzle that she could never solve.

Her thoughts shifted as she replied the memory over and over in her head. She did enjoy noticing how handsome Itachi was in his Akatsuki cloak... Breathtaking, it highlighted his chiseled face and dark eyes. Sasuke was definetly far better looking than his brother, but in a more dangerous and rugged sense. Itachi had his own sense of dark sensual appeal that she couldn't quite ever admit to anyone. If one were to compare the two, not that she was of course, they would have to both be compared evenly. Itachi had the advantage of that Akatsuki cloak to add to his appealing demenor but Sasuke at times needed someone to sit him down and re-evalute his wardrobe choices. Sasuke never paid any mind to his appearance lest there be some strategic benefit to it. She did feel more assured that there was certainly no girl in his life because of it she hummed to herself- chuckling aloud to herself while holding her blushing cheeks. Oh if he could hear her now. He would kill her. She giggled at the notion...then sat in a heavy silence.

She snapped out of her day dream and peered across the table to notice that everyone was staring at her. Shizune was also standing across the room looking rather annoyed.

"Well," Shizune remarks at Sakura, noticing she wasn't paying attention to the question, "what about the mission? the healing artifact from two months ago..."

Sakura's face turned bright red. The whole room watched her giggle to herself like a little school girl just a moment ago...Sakura couldn't find the words to say.

Shizune continued,..."The Pearl?"

"Oh. OH. Yes, yes." Sakura sat up and cleared her throat. Professional mode was on.

"Our last intel recieved from our ninja in the field stated that the pearl's location was pinpointed down in the Mizugakure( Land of water). Permission was not granted by the Mizukage to search for the article so our men went into the city undercover to search for it-"

"Excuse me" interrupted an old man sitting in the far back of the table. He was with the ninja training department.

"What is the article we are talking about? A stone? Why were two of my men sent to go retrieve a stupid stone with my best weapons maker?", he asked with contempt..

Weeks before the mission could finally kick off, Sakura had to convince this old man to allow her best friend to oversee the mission she crafted.

Sakura paused. She anxiously looked around the room. The tension was heavy but Tsunade gave her a hand signal suggesting that she raise her voice.

Sakura continued warmly and began explaining confidently, "No, this isn't a stone. It's supposed to be a pearl of some sort. We have few records of it in the sacred scrolls of the forbidden library that discuss the pearl but the two other scrolls from Iwagakure (stone) and Kirinokuni (country of water) share the same account of the pearl. Legend says it allows the user to command unlimited healing of any ailment with limitless use of chakra. It is even rumored to be able to bring back someone from the dead. With a tool like this, we could save limitless lives and it would grant us the ability to cure endless diseases across the world."

"why didn't we go get this stone beforehand? What's so special about this time around?" questioned another old man.

"No one believed the pearl existed. I had to personally go through the all libraries of most of our partnered lands to figure out what accounts each of them had about the pearl. I've collected a lot of information in my research that suggests it is not actually a myth, the writings about it vaguely line up with historical events. I assembled a team to follow the leads on the research I've compiled over the year, which landed in Mizugakure..." Sakura's voice began to lower, she could sense that she was losing them judging by the bored faces across the table. She began to add, "Hence why I needed your men to go and find-"

A tall man next to Sakura cut her off mid sentence, looking at the Hokage he protested "Our grandparents had known about the stone and it was just a legend to them. No one believes in the stories of the stone or else they would have gone looking for it. This _little girl_ just sent three of our shinobi on a dangerous goose chase without so much as permission from the Mizukage! To continue to look for this imaginary stone is a waste of our resources."

Sakura stood annoyed but defeated at the remark. She looked at Tsunade with an injured expression. Tsunade peered over at Sakura then began to address the table sternly, "Sakura currently holds a higher seat than you in this table, so if you would like to keep your seat you will address no one here as a little girl" Tsunade hissed at him.

"Sakura" she continued, "where are our men at the current time."

"well" Sakura shyly continued looking through her paperwork, "a month ago was our last update from them. So they must still be in the south-"

"Why haven't we reached out to them?" Tsunade questioned.

"Since then we have sent three carrier birds and each of them have returned back with nothing...", Sakura knew what that meant and was hoping to withhold that information for as long as possible from Tsunade. She looked up at Tsunade, already knowing what she would say.

Sakura continued, "I understand this means we have been unable to reach them for the past month, but I was hoping to give them a little more time befo-"

"Sakura. When we receive no notice back from three ninjas on a mission within a month, the mission goes null. So we will carry out no more missions in search for the pearl and we will send out a Ninja's missing in action report to the family" Tsunade declared.

"Well, what if we send out more ninjas to find them, I'm sure our men were close to finding the pearl! From their reports, they really narrowed down the possibilities of where it could be! They were working with the museum curator of the land of water-" she looked around the table at the angry looks and annoyed clicks of the other council members. Another mission was a clear no.

" But, what if the pearl was true and someone was investing a lot of effort to make sure we don't find it? Shouldn't we prevent it from getting in the wrong hands? What if Akatsuki had the pearl? Then they would be unstoppable!" Sakura pleeded. Akatsuki was the keyword that set the table on fire again. Everyone broke into a lively debate about the subject of the Akatsuki. They completed ignored Sakura as they each ranted on about the same subject earlier.

"...Never mind" Sakura quietly agreed..sinking into her chair in defeat. Today was full of embarrassment and regret for her. She wasn't sure how it could get much worse.

The meeting continued for another hour and Sakura never said another word. She returned to her office and sat at her desk in a gloom.

She felt like she was finally on verge of contributing and gaining respect among the councilmen at the table. She had worked so hard on her research for years and was sure that something would come up. She even entrusted her best friend's brother on that mission! What a wreck!

"OH NO" She shouted out in realization. Her best friends brother! Sageki was now a missing ninja.

She shouldn't have sent him to an A rank mission like this, he was just a weapons maker! She banged her head against the wall in frustration. That stupid charmer! I bet he is just prancing around somewhere in the land of water getting wasted with his friends while Sakura is over here having the most embarrassing day of her life because of him. He's probably even written to Miki by now about all the fun he's having! Her blood boiled, thinking of all the flowers and dates Sageki used on Sakura, trying to get her to sign him up for this mission.

'OH NO" it occurred to her again.

That missing ninja letter would soon reach her best friend Miki, reporting that her brother was missing... Sakura had break the news to her before Tsunade sends the letter. Missing Ninja in Action letters are complete heartbreaks. Sakura couldn't live with the thought of her friend receiving one. Especially when there was no reason to suspect that Sageki was in danger! Miki would misconstrue the letter to think that her dearest only little brother is dead by the hands of Sakura. She would lose her best friend if she didn't reach Miki before the letter did!

Sakura jumped up from her office desk and threw her bag over her shoulder, hopefully nobody would notice her leaving early today- just like nobody noticed her arriving late.

* * *

She slowly made her way out into the streets and continued toward the house of her dear friend. Sakura felt slightly panicked. She didn't want to strain her relationship with Miki just because Sageki hasn't been able to keep up some simple update letters. How was she going to tell Miki?

Sakura met Miki in the library a few years back as she was researching. They became immediate friends, ranting off about similar novel interests and opinions on research. Sakura hadn't had such an intelligent friend since Sasuke was around. Both of them would discuss the scrolls together and help to figure out clues. Miki was a big contributor to the success of Sakura's research.

Sageki was another topic. He was simply a rambunctious teenager when Sakura met him. His crush on Sakura had been made strikingly apparent since the moment he laid eyes on her, making bold attempts to woo her in front of anyone. Sakura truly had no interest in Sageki and found it fun to shoot him down in creative ways. He wasn't boyfriend material, but he was sure fun to be around. Particularly because Sageki was three years younger than Sakura, he was always playful. In fact, he barely passed his chuunin exams two years ago.

In theory, he _was_ a suitable candidate for Sakura. He was a well cut 5ft 8 boy, black hair and blue eyes. He was indeed attractive, and had no problem catching the interest of young girls. His position in Konoha wasn't a bad one either. He specialized in making mineral formations such as diamond and glass from his chakra. His skills got him to become a distinguished glass blower and weapons producer for the Konohagakure ninja fleet. A boring, but highly esteemed position. He often told Sakura about how he was looking forward to being dispatched into far away missions with her. He would complain constantly about how boring his job was and he lived for the day he would be sent off on far missions. Being stuck in a Class C ranking position, Sageki knew he wouldn't be getting that chance anytime soon. It never stopped him. He was constantly trying to get into one of Sakura's missions.

Sageki loved to hear Sakura's mission stories. He would even leave little glass figures on Sakura's window ledge when she was away on missions, so she didn't forget to come by and tell him all about her adventures.

Come to think of it, Sageki _was_ pretty romantic but he was too good of a friend for Sakura to accept him as a love interest. She even tried, for Miki's sake, to like him one time... Though it was short-lived. Sakura regrettably shared a drunken kiss with Sageki at a new years party, caught by everyone in attendence. It was simply addressed as a drunken mistake later when Sakura got sober and it broke his heart. She felt so terrible that she hurt Sageki, and he never spoke of it again. Except when a year later Sageki hung the memory over her head, blackmailing her to let him be accepted into her research mission. How could she refuse after he had begged so much and even used his treasured memory with her as blackmail?

He got the best of her. Looking back on it, Sakura could officially slap herself on the head for agreeing to let him take the mission. She had been cringing in worry over Sageki's late letters for the past three weeks. Her plan was to beg Naruto to go in search of Sageki during one of his upcoming training trips with Jiraya, but it looks like that wont be happening now...

Deep in thought, Sakura arrived in front of Miki's house. 'This is what leaders do' Sakura kept reminding herself, 'they take responsibility. I must tell her myself.

Sakura practiced her speech to herself in her own head before knocking on the door, 'I will figure out what to do and when he gets back home we are going to scold Sageki to no end!'

Sakura rapped on the door of the cute little two bedroom house with a large garden to the side. Miki came to the door wearing her oversized cardigan sweater and khaki shorts. Her black hair was tossed into a loose bun that really accentuated her big blue eyes.

"Hello?" Her smile widened when she opened the door to see Sakura.

"Sakura! I wasn't expecting you today, I thought you were at work! How are you? Come in!" Miki happily chirped.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, "Miki, would you be willing to let me take you out for a drink right now? I've had a pretty bad day." Sakura said as she bit her bottom lip. Miki looked at her with concern and she nodded.

* * *

Before Sakura knew it, they were sitting in one of the Izakaya's they frequent. A few good drinks of sake and their daily updates were casually shared. Two small Sake bottles in and Sakura used the opportunity to initiate the difficult conversation.

"So" Sakura quietly started, "have you heard from Sageki?"

Miki paused "I thought he was in contact with you, he hasn't sent anything my way for about a month already".

"yeah...about that" Sakura continued remorsefully, "Sageki hasen't written back to me in a month either, and I had sent out about three carriers already that ended up returning to me with nothing."

Miki sat quietly. Sakura caught the pause of understanding in her blue eyes and returned her gaze back to the sake glass in her hand.

"Basically,...at this point the mission becomes null. Which means that Sageki is now missing in action" she said slowly, as though confessing to the Sake in her hand. There is a long pause and Sakura slowly looked up at Miki. With the dim lighting of the Izakaya, it was hard to determine Miki's reaction.

After leaning forward to get a good glimpse of Miki's face, Sakura noticed how watery her eyes were.

"What does that mean Sakura? Is he safe?" Miki asked.

"It means we don't know where he is, but I'm sure he's safe! Come on! It's Sageki after all, Im sure nothing can get to him" Sakura said cheerfully.

Miki's eyes were swamped with emotions, she kept searching around the room as though looking for answers. After a longer pause Miki started crying. Sakura's eye brows raised in shock as she wrapped her arm around Miki in condolence. She felt a world of regret in her chest. Sakura tried to explain that Sageki was fine, but none of her reassurances were making Miki feel better. Miki continued sobbing. Sakura placed Miki's head on her shoulder.

Miki would go on to cry for minutes. Waiters and passing patrons would stare as they passed by the table. Sakura offered Miki some water to drink, but the only reply she got was a sung into her shoulder. Sakura lowered her head in shame and took a long drink from the sake bottle in front of her.

"I can't hear you when you mumble into my shoulder Miki.." Sakura told her as she tried to peel her off her shoulders.

"Bring him back" Miki cried quietly through sobs.

"Miki. I don't know how I could bring him back" Sakura told her. "I'm sure he's going to just come back on his own. I think he's alright"

Miki's head lifted up and her eye brows furrowed. In complete surprise to Sakura, Miki's face was now filled with scorn.

"Bring. Him. Back" She demanded between her teeth at Sakura.

Sakura froze.

"He wanted to prove himself to you. **You** did this to him" she growled at Sakura.

In Miki's eyes she could see herself, the way she begged Naruto to please bring back Sasuke. The feeling of realization that came over Sakura when she knewshe would never see Sasuke again broke her. In Miki's eyes was a trauma that Sakura knew too well. A trauma that cut at her every day of every moment and trapped her in flashbacks. For Sakura to inflict that same horrible trauma onto her best friend, it would eat at her. No one deserved such a trauma.

Sakura herself began to feel a little teary eyed. Her eyes searched the room for the right words to say... she knew what had to be said. What had to be done to prevent this from scarring Miki.

"I'll bring him back..." Sakura whispered with her head lowered.

"Promise me, Haruno Sakura!" Miki shouted at her.

"I will bring him back."

Tears began rolling down Sakura's face.

"I promise. He will be with us together here at this izakaya laughing, like usual. Please don't worry. I don't know how but I'll get him back, but I will. I swear it." Sakura whole heartedly promised.

Maybe this was how Naruto felt when he promised Sakura to bring Sasuke back. What a hard promise to make. Sakura had no idea how to bring him back. She didn't even know how she could go search for him.

Sakura was scared that this promise would end up getting her killed.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura was curled in her bed on a glorious Saturday morning, dreaming about the finer things in life. She was a celebrity-regarded as one of the smartest minds in the world! Making her acceptance speech for a noble peace award in medicine, nothing could get better! She looked down at the front row and all of her team members were there clapping and cheering her on, even Sasuke showed up to express how proud he was of her.

Unfortunately- her dream was cut short as she was blighted by the knocking sounds at her door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

She sighed, hoping it was just the pounding in her head from drinking last night with Miki. She lifted her head to ensure she heard right...

KNOCK KNOCKKKK

Yes...there was indeed some moron at her door. It couldn't be Naruto, he normally just walks in unannounced. She stood up, noticing she was only wearing her favorite red panties, she threw on her oversized 'ichiraku ramen' t-shirt.

KNOCKK KNOCK KNOCCCK KNOCK

Sakura peeked through the intercom to see that it was none other then Michiha Kotsuya from the other night at her mother's birthday dinner. He was standing anxiously behind the door wearing a solid black bounty hunter outfit and holding some flowers. Sakura cringed and looked at the time on the wall, her jaw nearly dropped when she saw it was eight thirty in the morning on a _Saturday_.

Her eyes rolled to the back to the darkest depths of her skull. It ate at her that she had to deal with this situation so early. Her head was throbbing and all she could think about was that this was her mother's mess. It was too early for this.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The knocking continued and each knock rattled her head more than the last. She couldn't just stand there and ignore his knocks and, surely, she was not about to answer the door. She didn't have the energy to argue with this person who was persistent to the point of frustration. She decided she was going to get out of the apartment.

She put on her black jean shorts and ninja sandals in a matter of moments.

KNOOOOCKK KNOCKK KNOOCKKK

She tucked her keys and wallet in her back pockets and headed to the living room window. She leaped out of the window and straight onto her neighbors roof. The cool breeze of the morning air hit her face. The liberation felt like an instant release from her headache. The sun was out and as she looked around, she noticed it was a surprisingly bright and beautiful day for winter.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Sakura gave a few irritated blinks as she peered back over at her living room window, where the sound of the knocks could still be heard. Calling to her.

Her kind elderly neighbor was in his garden watering his flowers. He looked up to see Sakura standing gallantly on his roof with the sun beams highlighting her pink hair against the blue sky. He waved and shouted a gleeful greeting to Sakura,"Good Morning Sakura San! Lovely day today isn't it?". Sakura nodded and gave a big smile. Before she could reply, the bounty hunter called out her name as though he had heard her neighbor. Sakura froze and turned to face the open window of her apartment, no sign of knocking- but she could hear someone running down the apartment stairs on the other side of the building.

"Crap!" she mouthed out as she began to scurry out of sight. She darted to another roof and decided to get as far away from the area as possible. It was too late, after a few hops Sakura noticed a black figure pursuing her.

The chase began, bounty hunter vrs ninja.

She jumped from rooftop to rooftop trying to escape. She was normally much quicker than this, but her hangover kept her from her usual standards. It was also an ungodly hour to be skipping around the rooftops of Konoha. Sakura decided to run to the old training grounds to escape him, she knew that place better than anyone. It was far, just at the outskirts of town.

-Instead, something else had caught her eye!

Jolting past the ichiraku ramen shop, Sakura noticed a familiar blond haired figure sitting alone in the shop. She got a great idea to get Mimiha off her back for good! She made a sharp turn, dropped down to the streets and sprinted for the shop on foot.

* * *

Naruto was silently waiting for ramen after returning home earlier that morning from training with Jiraya. His stomach was making inhumane noises, food was all he could think about. A familiar chakra came rushing toward him, he abruptly sat up and turned around to see Sakura sprinting his way. He was so happy to see his cutest teammate rushing to come see him. She arrived quickly and sat next to him with crazed pink hair, a flushed face and the large ichiraku ramen shirt he won for her-seductively big enough to expose her shoulder and collar bone.

"One miso ramen please" she requested as she tried to catch her breath. The owner greeted her kindly and set off to get her order.

"Sakura!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Naruto!" she returned the excitement, a bit out of breath, as she gave him a big hug.

Sakura heard what could only be the bounty hunters steps approaching the shop. She asked Naruto to please play along with her before releasing him from the hug. Naruto stood there confused at Sakura's request.

Then, it happened. They both heard Sakura's name called out behind them. Sakura froze and tried to ignore his call but Naruto bluntly turned to face the man standing at the entrance of the shop. Naruto's face displayed all his different shades of confusion as he watched the current situation unfolding.

The man stomped over next to Sakura, "Sakura!" Mimiha snapped, a bit out of breath. "Its me, Kotsuya from the other night at your house". Sakura waited until he was finished speaking before slowly turning to face him with quite a poorly acted surprised look on her face.

"ah! Kotsuya san! How nice to see you again! What a coincidence. Do you come here often?"

"Actually, its no coincidence at all" said Mimiha baffled, "I was at your place and I knocked but I-I had to follow you here. Or should I say, someone who seemed a lot like you... Wait no!they were wearing the same clothes as you!"

Sakura froze, trying to think on her feet. Naruto was overcome with realization of what he was taking in, the joy of stumbling across some juicy gossip didn't leave his face for a moment.

Sakura then continued, "What! That's insane! It couldn't be me, I was just having breakfast with my boyfriend" she wrapped her arm around Naruto's arm. He felt her breasts press on his arm and she leaned her head playfully into his shoulder as she kept full eye contact with Mimiha. Naruto's face turned three shades brighter than an apple.

Mimiha raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"I'm sorry I wasn't home all last night-or this morning" she smiled at Mimiha with a wink. Naruto was completely lost in what was just said. No, what was insinuated! He turned to Sakura in complete shock! Any other time when they were younger, this would have been a dream come true, he never thought he would see the day that she would say such a thing. Naruto looked up at the stranger who was clearly glaring at him at this point. Naruto was mortified and in paradise at the same time. He hoped this wouldn't get around town.

"What kind of frivolous girl are you?... I didn't know you had a boyfriend. Your mother told me you were single, but.." Mimiha said unimpressed. Looking Naruto up and down in disgust. He didn't believe her for a second. She was gorgeous, far too much out of Naruto's league. She had to be playing hard to get. He paused before considering what to say to break her guise.

"..But now this? After your last boyfriend disappeared and turned into a hated criminal. An enemy of the state. A villain against all that is good...hmm, what _was_ his name again? Uchiha Sausage, or something? I thought you couldn't find a more disgraceful toy." Mimiha retorted. He watched Sakura's reaction, trying to get a crack out of her.

Naruto was not offended at all, instead, he saw in Kotsuya's eyes the extent of how oblivious he was to the danger he just placed himself in.

There was a moment of shock and silence before Sakura broke character. She let go of Naruto's arm and stood up. A dark presence seemed to overtake her and the hair behind Naruto's neck stood on end. Naruto was not only sure Sakura would obliterate Kotsuya, but the entire ramen shop along with him. He stood up frantically and grabbed one of Sakura's arms. "Sakura chan! He doesn't mean that, he's just trying to get you to rea-" Naruto hastly tried to plead.

"Actually. He is a _current_ member of our team. He is still a Konohagakure citizen and he lost everything in this town. Don't ever talk as if you know _anything_ about him...and don't ever speak condescendingly of him again", Sakura spat as she walked toward Mimiha, fighting Naruto's pull. The intensity in her voice rose as she continued.

"If anyone, like yourself, doesn't know when to keep their mouth shut about things they don't know or can't understand about Uchiha Sasuke, feel free to have them take it up with me. I won't be as **merciful** as him", she growled at him, her words soaked with scorn and contempt as she rose her fist up to his face.

The air was heavy, even the workers stopped breathing. Mimha could see the fire raging in her green eyes. Her response sold him that she was lying. He only saw her as a prize worth fighting for- for he indeed chased her from her apartment to the ramen shop. Kotsuya gave a smug grin to Sakura and fear overtook Naruto, for he was not about to watch as Sakura mauled this guy to death. Naruto darted in between the two and grabbed Sakura's shoulders to calm her down.

"okay now sweetheart, lets just calm down. He doesn't mean it" he looked at Mimiha in the eye and sincerely asked him to leave.

"I'd appreciate it if you would leave her al-" Naruto asked kindly before he was rudely interjected by Mimiha.

"Oh. Your opinion doesn't matter here, nine tails. I've got all the information I needed" Mimiha sharply replied before walking away.

Mimiha was silent holding up a peace sign as he walked out. "I'll catch you later Sakura,...this isn't over" Mimiha remarked.

Sakura huffed angrily as she waved her arms in distress. She stomped back to her chair and slouched her head into her hands. Naruto took his seat next to her tenderly. The waitress silently brought both their Ramen and set it in front of them.

Naruto placed her spoon and some chopsticks into her ramen for her. He sighed as he admired her beauty despite being in despair, she was such a pretty little thing. It was bound to happen that she would catch the attention of the wrong guy sooner or later. He could only pity her, things hadn't been easy for her and the unwanted attention followed her on missions as well. Naruto looked down at his own ramen and sighed, his appetite left him a little.

Sakura attempted to calm herself by spinning her noodles in the ramen repeatedly. He reached over to Sakura's shoulder and gave her a gentle side hug.

"Thank you for that, Naruto..." Sakura sighed with a little grin.

"Can you believe that guy?" remarked Sakura, "Sasuke would've just killed that guy if he heard the things he said!"

Naruto chuckled, "No, _I_ could have killed that guy. _Sasuke_ would have driven a hole through the center of the earth to obliterate him and anyone around him." Sakura looked over at Naruto with a big smile.

"You know how overdramatic he likes to get sometimes" Naruto continued.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. The ramen owner stood on the other side of the shop quite nervous as the two laughed. These two were constants threats to his shop by their mere existence.

"Thanks Naruto, I needed a good laugh" Sakura added with a smile.

"Anytime you need a good laugh or a fake boyfriend let me know Sakura-chan!" he winked at her as he parted his chopsticks and began to dig into his ramen. Feeling a better about the whole situation, Sakura also began to pick at her Ramen. It was just as uplifting as Naruto's presence.

"So...What's been bothering you lately besides _that_ guy?", asked Naruto between Ramen slurps.

"Well" said Sakura, hesitant to overshare her burdens on Naruto, but she felt like she needed someone to listen. "Its just- that I sent a good friend out to a mission- oh. You remember Sageki?" Sakura mentioned.

"Yeah, the kid with the blue eyes who was drooling all over you at that end of the years party last year?" Naruto added with an distain in his words.

"Yeah" Sakura completely ignored his comment and his tone, " well, its been a month since we've heard back from his mission reports, so now he became a missing ninja! I was actually thinking of asking you to go check on him next time you were out with Jiraya, but I guess that time has passed. His sister is a good friend of mine and the other night I accidently promised her that I would bring him back."

She swept her hair back with her hand in frustration, then continued, "but I don't know if there's a way to get permission from the Hokage to do that! She already told me _no_ to my initial rescue suggestion.. and I just don't know what to do! I can't break my promise, but I don't feel like he's in danger- so I don't want to ruin my relationship with Tsunade by going behind her back when he doesn't even need my help!"

Naruto could feel Sakura's deep frustration. Naruto crossed his arms and began plotting on a solution while Sakura resumed slurping on her ramen.

"Why don't you just do what Jiraya Sensei does. Wait to ask for favors from the Hokage when she is pissed drunk" Naruto questioned while looking at the ceiling up and down in thought. Sakura paused over her ramen at the remark. This was new information to her, and yet it seemed like an obvious choice she should have thought of by now.

She stopped to think, "I don't know how possible that suggestion even is! How do I get Tsunade-sama pissed drunk? I don't think I have enough money in all my savings account for that kind of splurge."

Naruto looked at her with disbelief, "you must be joking..."

Sakura shook her head with a long batch of noodles hanging out of her mouth.

"Well, then you should probably wait until Jiraya takes her drinking. He was excited about a meeting this afternoon with her, it will probably be at a local izakaya somewhere- you know they're not serious enough to have office meetings" Naruto laughed as he snapped his fingers.

Sakura's face lit up with a smile. "That's perfect! I can get her schedule from Shizune and figure out where its going to be! Naruto! you're a genius!" she shouted with joy and gave him a quick hug. Sakura began slurping her ramen faster to try to hurry to the office to find Shizune. Her chopsticks flew back and forth from her mouth, pilling on everything in the bowl.

"Slow down Sakura! You trying to win another shirt or something?" Naruto said in a competitive tone.

* * *

It was night now in Konohagakure and the moon was bright, almost as bright as Sakura. She walked out of her apartment wearing her best clothes and her hair loosely curled. Her white oversized pea coat and black boots complimented her sleek, form fitting maroon dress. Sakura spent the day writing up the official documents that granted her permission to find Sageki and the other missing ninjas. Her mission tonight was to get Tsunade to sign the papers. She looked at the moon, and gave her best 'Ganbarimasu!(I will do my best)'.

It was a traditional high end Izakaya in the downtown area that she would normally never enter, far to ritzy for her own taste. The place was dressed to the nines and covered in gold and old Japanese paintings. She entered timidly, as though it were an art museum where nothing should be disturbed. She asked the waitress at the front if she could request to sit at the table with the Hokage, informing them that she was her apprentice. The waitress looked at Sakura up and down condescendingly and suspiciously asked Sakura to wait right there before disappearing to the dining hall.

The waitress returned and with a nod began escorting Sakura to a table in the back. The tables were all partitioned off so that no one could know who was a wall over. The waitress introduced Sakura as she tenderly opened the sliding door to a large tatami room. Sakura entered with a gleeful smile and removed her coat. Tsunade and Jiraya were already three bottles down and enjoying themselves, Kakashi surprisingly sat facing them quietly drinking a tea next to two business men. All eyes brightened up when Sakura entered their table room. "Sakurasan!" the three joyfully cheered when she entered. They all seemed so fond of her, it really relieved her anxiety about the situation. Sakura took a seat next to Tsunade and gulped down praises from across the table by all her superiors.

Jiraya particularly enjoyed how beautiful she looked and even remarked that her boobs finally started to grow in, Sakura laughed nervously and thanked him for the compliment. "I am not as gifted as my sensei, so I don't think they'll get any bigger" she remarked playfully. Tsunade was smitten and poured Sakura a drink.

Jiraya loudly hinted to Sakura a secret he will share with just her, "WELL, you can always use the transformation technique to make your boobs bigger when you need it" he winked. Jiraya erupted in laughter and then used the jitsu on himself to give himself irratically big breasts that were bulging from his Jinbei. Sakura spat out her sake at the sight of what just happened. She had never seen the legendary sannin act like this. Tsunade was roaring with laughter and Jiraya kept asking Tsunade to compare his with hers. Kakashi looked undisturbed by the scenario, as though it were a common occurrence for the two.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi while the two Sanin kept laughing and joking amongst themselves, "I didn't know you drank as well, Kakashi Sensei". He looked over at Sakura and told her that Shizune had contacted him to chaperone the two tonight. Sakura paused and looked over at the two smacking each others hands as they poked each others breasts. The two businessmen to the right of Kakashi were either piss drunk or completely unfazed by the situation. "Tsunade likes to hike up bills and destroy things when she gets too much to drink" commented Kakashi who was casually reading a trashy novel given to him by Jiraya earlier that evening, surely the trade off he gets for participating in the event.

"Would you say Tsunade is sufficiently drunk already?" asked Sakura.

They both looked over at Tsunade who had transformed into an overly muscular version of Jiraya. Tsunade was chugging a bottle of Sake whilst fighting off Jiraya with one arm for the bottle. There was a pause between Sakura and Kakashi...

"I would say so now, yes." Kakashi quietly commented.

Sakura whipped out her paper and pen, "wish me luck then!" she remarked to Kakashi as she slid over to Tsunade's side. She employed her best puppy eyes to address Tsunade.

Sakura smiled as she watched the laughter die down from Jiraya and Tsunade once the last bottle finished.

"Sakura! You haven't even drank yet, where are my manners? Let me order another round!" Tsunade said as she signaled the waiters that stood near the doorway. They hurried off timidly and the two businessmen across the table sighed in worry.

Sakura saw the perfect opportunity," Well, Tsunade sama, I don't know if I can drink today..." she commented with pouting lips and eyes drawn to the corner of the room.

"OH?" remarked Tsunade. "I can't imagine a situation so bad that it would prevent one from drinking! What's happening Sakura?"

Sakura gave an exaggerated sigh,"...I've been very worried lately."

"about _what_?" asked Jiraya attentively.

"It's such a shame to let those three ninjas go missing from my research mission…They were _such_ good ninjas..." Sakura began to fake teary eyes.

"The village would be in such need without them!" There was a long solemn pause before Sakura shot up in her seat, "OH! I have an idea! Why don't I go look for them?" Sakura chirped as the waiters brought a large bottle for the table. Kakashi squinted his eyes suspiciously at Sakura's terrible acting but decided to remain quiet.

"SaKuRA. If anything were to happen to you, Sakura, I would have to go to the ends of the earth to get you back! Imagine?! The Mizukage would not allow more ninja to enter his lands on such short notice, especially not after we have missing ninja's in their country. If you were to dissapear in the land of the water I would march my arse right in there to get you back! NO permit! No VISA. NO WARNING. I-It could cause wars you know." Tsunade drew out an extended drunken political explanation that was hard to make out. She began naming off countries she would go to war with if Sakura disappeared and Jiraya then joined in. Sakura sat there defeated for a moment before considering another attack point, she quickly began pouring Tsunade a glass from the fresh bottle.

"buut, Tsunadesama" added Sakura sweetly, "don't you think it would be worse if the Akatsuki got their hands on the pearl and used it to attack us? Who could defeat them then? Maybe our men are being held captive by the Akatsuki for information on the pearl! What if they possessed the information we had on it?" Sakura asked with a fake hint of worry, trying to entice a reaction from her. Tsunade paused in consideration of Sakura's words and threw back the glass of fine sake before her.

Sakura worried Tsunade wouldn't budge. She got up and walked next to Jiraya to pour him a drink as well. Kakashi watched her very attentively and noticed Sakura's chest graze Jiraya's shoulder as she poured him another drink.

Sakura let out a scent of seduction jitsu towards Jiraya as she poured his glass. She looked up at him with the most innocent smile she could muster. Seduction jitsu is a hard trick to play sitting at a table with legends. She could get caught trying to use the jitsu and then they would never trust her or in a rare chance that her jitsu skills are good enough- they won't catch on. It could be her only ticket to getting the mission approved... she was desperate.

Kakashi quickly noticed Sakura's use of this rare jitsu and put his book down. He sat back watching as he furrowed his brow, he didn't approve of Sakura using such a jitsu. Surely she understood how dangerous it is and it was far too suggestive for such a young girl like herself to be using. There techniques are usually reserved for Anbu on suction missions...surely, his sweet little innocent Sakura hadn't gone to any of those. He darted his eyes over at Tsunade, had she taught her this jitsu? Sakura must be very desperate to be pulling it out at the table in front of Tsunade and him.

He was very curious to see just how much Sakura had learned...and dared to think who taught it to her.

Jiraya's face blushed at the hint of the jitsu hitting his nostrils, he could sense how badly Sakura wanted to chase the three missing ninjas- she dared to try seduction Jitsu on him. A big smile crossed him from cheek to cheek as he let the jitsu trance him into a much deeper and drunken high. It had been a long time since anyone used the seduction technique on him and it really brought back good memories. He was flattered to get a taste of this sweet jitsu again... It had been far too long since he had felt it. In appreciation and respect for Sakura's desperation, he decided he would help her out.

"Sakura" Tsunade said as she finished her glass, oblivious to the jitsu being used on Jiraya. "Would you prefer if the Akatsuki tortured you for information instead of those ninjas? You know many more secrets that just those three missing ninja's. You know secrets about ME, about the TOWN, about NarutO! Don't you care about them" retorted Tsunade.

"Maybe she wants a little bit of _torture_ from the Akatsuki?" Jiraya winked at Sakura before taking a long slip of his drink.

"What does **that** mean?!" Tsunade chorted at Jiraya.

"oOOOoohh" chimed in Jiraya while leaning on Tsunade, "it seems you don't trust your disciple to handle a simple task huh?" he hiccuped and began taunting her, "I sent out Naruto multiple times to fight the Akatsuki! He is a suitable opponent because I have made him one. Has he ever died? Not to my knowledge. Never been tortured. There the idiot is now, at ichiraku snorting ramen through his nose as we speak! Happy as a bug!" Jiraya laughed as he took Sakura's hand, continuing his speech.

"If you don't think this beautiful shinobi has the power to handle herself under fire, then you need to consider if you are right for her as her Sensei. _I_ see strength in her! _I_ am willing to train her under **my** wings instead if _you_ Tsunade. Maybe she would like to have Sannin who wouldn't hold her back from her darkest desires" hollered Jiraya giving Sakura a nudge with his elbow. Sakura smiled at Jiraya while Kakashi chuckled to himself.

Tsunade still there a bit defeated, unable to think of a good comeback. She began looking around the izakaya, drunkenly thinking. Kakashi saw her hesistation and noticed she wasn't yet sold. He knew what could be done to tip the hat in Sakura's favor.

"Hokage-sama" said Kakashi, "I understand Sakura's opinion on the matter. I know that Sakura is keen on meeting finding the Akatsuki in hopes to get a chance to see Sasuke one last time. I'm sure if you were given the chance to meet Jin before his untimely death you would have stopped at nothing to have that meeting, am I right?"

Sakura froze at the words Kakashi was saying, this was not part of her plan! Jin was a person we didn't bring up in front of Tsunade. Especially not when she was drunk! She definitely didn't want Tsunade to think that she had ulterior motives to hunt down Sasuke! Tsunade would never let her go now, the night is ruined! She cringed and slowly turned to Tsunade.

Tsunade sat there staring at her glass..surprisingly, a tear came out of her eye!

'Oh goodness...it worked' Sakura thought to herself. Tsunade grabbed Sakura and pressed her face to her chest. She petted Sakura's head drunkenly and wept. "I know your pain Sakura, it is a pain that no one should have to suffer through" cried out Tsunade, "I think you're strong but-what if I were to lose you too? I've lost so many people already. I'm so selfish!"

Tsunade continued weeping, clinging closely to Sakura. Even Jiraya began to get a little teary eyed.

Kakashi then sighed, there was a long paused before his mouth overtook his mind and unknowingly blurted out "I can volunteer... to ensure the safety of Sakura in retrieving the lost ninjas".

All three of them looked over at Kakashi in disbelief. Sakura jolted up from the confinement of Tsunade's breasts, "REALLY?!" she shouted out in excitement.

Kakashi nodded and sighed out a grin. He knew he would regret this decision...he even wondered if the seduction jitsu had secretly influenced him as well, without his knowledge. He wanted to know how good was Sakura with this secret technique? What else had been taught to her? He began thinking that Sakura is definitely not the same little Kunoichi he left a long time ago. He was worried and eager to see how far she had grown through their upcoming journey.

Tsunade agreed to let Sakura retrieve the missing ninja's under the condition that Kakashi was to go with her and ensure her safe return home. Tsunade and Kakashi signed the paper proposal that Sakura brought in her coat Jacket. Jiraya clapped as Sakura gave a warm hug to everyone, thanking them for their kindness. She hurried off once the paper was signed and told Kakashi to meet her early the next morning in front of her office. Kakashi looked over at Jiraya and Tsunade as they both continued drinking, it would surely be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura was startled to hear a loud horn and awoke, wide eyed gazing at her surroundings. Outside the window beside her resting spot, she gazed at the warm colors of the sunset melting into a lavender sky. The rays of light casted long shadows upon the seagulls flying close by as they approached what appeared to be a dock. The waves glistened underneath the sky with celebration. She knew this place. This was the same view she gazed upon many years ago on the trip to the land of water with Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke. She looked at the hand that landed on her shoulder and turned to see Kakashi sitting beside her. She was sitting in a room scattered with people waiting, playing cards and sleeping- it was the common room of a ship.

"That was just the horn, don't go shooting weapons across the room with every loud noise" Kakashi joked with her. Her memory returned to her as her sleepy haze faded. Kakashi set off with her early in the morning, they ran for an entire day before reaching the ports east of the Land of fire. Undercover as father-daughter civilians, they were now on a carrier ship across the ocean to the land of Water. She must have fallen asleep, very tired from a days worth of running.

She leaned against the locker behind her, staring out the window. This scenery was so familiar.

"Ne Kakashi sensei, we were here as team seven not that long ago" Sakura noted.

Kakashi nodded then looked over to witness Sakura slow fade off into what must be a memory. Her eyes glazed over, locked in a trance. A smirk appeared from the corner of her mouth. Looking closely, her eyes conveyed a sense of pain and her lips kept their misleading grin. Kakashi watched her with puzzle and suspected that Sakura was now a traumatized ninja. He too remembers being haunted by the memories of his lost teammates when the wound was still fresh. Kakashi became amazed at the length of time she had been lost in it. He waved his hand next to her face, but she failed to acknowledge it. He pulled out a ninja star from one of his pockets. Softly threw it upwards, tossing it toward Sakura's lap and waited for her to react and catch it.

It rose up, the ninja star quickly dropped down to sharply impale her thigh.

"WHAT THE!" she jumped up, "what was that for?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I thought I lost you there for a moment", Kakashi grinned. He was going to make mental notes of these occurrences.

It seems as though Sakura became unconscious of her surroundings when she goes through them. He hoped it would not a common occurrence that would put Sakura in danger during missions. Sakura pulled out the ninja star and handed it back to Kakashi. She reached her hand over the bloody wound and healed it back to normal within seconds. Kakashi noted Sakura's healing speed was significantly increased from when he last remembered it. It helped to relieve a little bit of his nerves, he needed to be sure Sakura could handle herself when he was not there. He worried for her as much as he worried for Naruto,..even Sasuke.

One of the staff members on the boat came through the door and began to lead people to the corner of the ship to disembark. Sakura and Kakashi stood up to grab their bags above the locker before following the crowd to the dock. Sakura peeks at her official immigration paperwork stating she is a journalist visiting the land of the water under a special journalism visa. Despite the looks from the people around them, Sakura and Kakashi passed through immigration without a pause from officials. The sun was completely set now, darkness was in bloom and the city lights were on. They made their way straight to downtown to stop at a local park and discuss their plans.

"Well, Sakura, you are leading this mission. What is your first order of searching now that we have made it into the Land of Water?" asked Kakashi.

Sakura paused and took out an object from out of her bag, "The last known location that the missing ninja wrote about was the museum located south of the hidden mist village. So this will be our first location to exam and ask around. Meanwhile, I was hoping that we could have your dogs seek them out on the island".

"Pakkun wont be help to us unless we have the scent of the missing nin" said Kakashi giving a slight shoulder shrug. Sakura then presented to Kakashi the object from her bag. It was a small glass figure of a tiny Sakura-look-alike character, it was blushing as it held a flower to its nose. This figure was made by Sageki, able to form and bend glass with chakra. She remembered coming home one day late from a mission and finding it on her windowsill with a rose and a happy birthday card. It carried his smell to this day and always reminded her of him. She admired it together with Kakashi for a moment.

Kakashi peered over at Sakura after contemplating the figure. Sakura admiringly held it with pride, and now he understood that this wasn't just a work-related mission, it was a personal one. He was speechless. He had never assumed that Sakura was chasing a love interest, he always figured that Sakura would never get over Sasuke. Kakashi felt a little hurt for a moment, he couldn't explain why.

Sakura noticed the silence and looked up to catch the analysis in Kakashi's eyes. She quickly worked to reclaim her innocence, "t-t-this is a present given to me for my birthday, its nothing. I got lots of presents from people! I don't see what that face is for!"

Kakashi tilted his head and gave her a look to let her know he wasn't buying it.

"I just felt this carried his scent best!" her voice softened as she finished her sentence, understanding how bad it sounded.

"Oh! there's other ones? How many other?" remarked Kakashi with a wide grin.

"that's not the point! This is strictly business" barked Sakura, grasping at her glass figure and shaking her fist at Kakashi.

"Well, since you know his smell so very intricately well, I am going to have to take your word for it" Kakashi taunted with a smile as he made the hand motions to summon his dog pack.

Sakura stood huffing, trying to hold back her embarrassment as Kakashi did his summoning.

Pakkun and his gang appeared with a cloud of dust. Kakashi greeted them and gave them a quick update. "Sakura is holding an object that has the scent of her precious missing ninja, who I need you to find. If you need to search the entire island, then I leave it to you. Return by sunrise with updates" commanded Kakashi to his dogs.

Sakura glared at Kakashi for the _precious_ comment while presenting the figure to the dogs. They walked up to Sakura and she delicately let them sniff it. With a nod of their heads, the dogs dispersed. Sakura put away the figure into her bag and looked over at Kakashi.

"We should head out to the museum before it closes, it is already dark" Kakashi stated. Sakura did her best to ignore Kakashi's smirk as they both took off toward the general direction of the museum.

* * *

Sakura and Kakashi had spent 30 minutes going in circles around the south part of the city but couldn't seem to find the museum. They perched on a high tree top and reviewed the map together.

"It seems like the museum should be on that corner" Sakura pointed to the edge of a nearby block, "but all I see is a somewhat destroyed building" she said examining the map with Kakashi.

"I also saw the same building, no signs outside of it- it looks decrepit and empty. Maybe we should pop in and see what it has in it before we rule it out" replied Kakashi. They both peered over at the building from the tree tops.

It was on a poorly lit street corner, there were burn marks and holes blown along the sides of the building. The double front doors were chained up and an empty space above the door, probable evidence of a sign once having been there. It definitely had a creepy empty warehouse vibe that Sakura was prone to staying away from.

Sakura was particularly hesitant to enter the building on such a dark night as tonight. Instead, she looked across the street to a park where a nice old bed and breakfast stood, "I vote we crash there for the night and continue this in the morning", grinning in a sly manner.

Kakashi shook his head and headed for the abandoned building. Sakura followed after him, slightly cursing under her breath.

When Sakura caught up to Kakashi, he stood at the rooftop of the building- peering into a giant broken moon roof. He pulled down his mask, which normalled covered his left eye. Activating the sharing, he could see clearly into the darkness of the building below him. Standing next to him was Sakura, mesmerized by the sharingan. It had been such a long time since she has seen it... It took her breath away. Uncontrollably, she started focusing in on the blood red color...

Flashbacks of Sasuke's piercing eyes begin to overwhelm her. She gasped for air as her memories stoped at her last meeting with Sasuke, orochimaru's tunnels... she was choked up.

Kakashi turned to Sakura. He was alarmed to see her completely mesmerized, gasping for air. Kakashi gave her a quick flat hand pat to her back- she jumped back into reality. He shook his head and signaled for her to follow him. Leaning into the hole of the moonroof- he jumped down, landing safely on the second story without a noise. Sakura appeared next to him in a split second.

"I can't see anything" Sakura whispered to Kakashi. She watched his silhouette turn to her as the red Sharingan from his eye began trailing through the dark abyss in glowing bright red fashion.

"It seems no one is in here, you can use a fire technique to illuminate. This is definitely some sort of museum." Kakashi noted to her. Sakura already began emitting a bright green light from her palms to illuminate her path.

She stood along a large open ledge overlooking the first floor. All around her was rubble and glass, there was heavy signs of a fight having took place. Signs and display cases were broken and shattered. This was definitely a museum at some point...but what happened? They both began walking through the building viewing the travesty of the situation. The interior seems like it was a high quality professional material that somehow got caught in the middle of a war. Now all that remained were some broken glass cases and memorabilia.

"If this place had the pearl, I don't think it would be here now. I think the missing ninja's would find somewhere else to search..." remarked Sakura sidestepping the sharp debris on the floor, "what do you think happened?" she asked aloud.

Kakashi separated from Sakura to look at a wall with sorch marks and blade scuffs.

"I think there was a fight here not too long ago, maybe it _was_ our missing ninjas" said Kakashi touching the wall. "In their last contact with you, they mentioned coming to this museum didn't they?" asked Kakashi. Sakura hummed in agreement as she searched the halls. She paused in front of sturdy door that seemed undisturbed. She tried to open the door- but it was locked. One swift kick and the lock snapped off the door frame, Kakashi looked over at Sakura as she peered inside. He continued walking down the large corridor as Sakura stayed to analyze the hallway inside the door. There was a large wooden header above the past the hallway entrance, Sakura shone her green light upon it. It read, 'the period of the warring states'. She remembered that the pearl was last known to be seen during this era and decided to enter the hallway for clues. In each room along the hallway were large broken glass containers that once held treasures and relics from different Lands, with detailed explanation's and drawings next to the empty displays. She saw the symbol of each of the lands above the entrance of the room. The symbol for the land of water was slashed out and traitor was written along the entrance. She continued down the hall until, to her surprise she saw the Uchiha symbol above a small doorway.

She paused. Turning to see if Kakashi was around, she decided to peek into the Uchiha room. As she turned to open the door in front of her she noted it was locked...Another kick and the doorway blew open.

Suddenly, Sakura was attacked! She evaded a large weapon lunged at her right shoulder. Someone appeared out of the doorway with a large scythe in their hands, targeting Sakura. Her focus broke and her green light went out. She ducked to the ground, the air sliced above her as the scythe missed her. She instinctively rolled to her left only to feel the scythe strike the ground next to her. With a quick kip-up to her feet, she began a stream of quick backhand springs down the hallway away from her attacker. The scythe holder gave out a loud scream and told Sakura to leave the place immediately. The scythe began to glow. Sakura braced herself under the entrance of the hallway and illuminated both her fists to find the attacker was already in front of her again-preparing a strong swing with the scythe. He was fast! She turned her shoulder to the ground, barely dodging the scythe by millimeters, swung through with her other arm and gave a strong uppercut to her attacker. She placed her foot along the head of the scythe and slammed it to the ground before the welder could raise it up again. "CHAANAROO!" She screamed as she focused a considerable amount of energy into her fist before sending the attacker flying backwards with a single punch to the chest. Kakashi walked in with his bright red Sharingan after hearing the noise.

"Oy, what do we have here?" he said uneventfully as he entered the hallway.

Sakura grabbed the scythe she was resting her foot upon and bent it in half, tossing it to the side. She turned to the attacker who was breathing heavily in the corner of the hallway. The attacker lifted his head to face Sakura and Kakashi stood before him.

He paused and gave a loud scream, "T-t-t-the sharingan! You're an Uchiha?" he bolted upward and met eyes with Kakashi. Kakashi looked over at Sakura in a pause, this boy had a lanky body covered up with an oversized cardigan and some khakis. He sported a white tangled mess of hair and thick glasses covering his black eyes.

"Who are you! What are you doing here? Why did you attack me?" Sakura barked at the man.

"My apologizes, I am the museum keeper, my name is Yuki" he said out of breath.

"I thought you were here to rob the museum" he coughed out, "my apologies for attacking you".

"We are here looking for some people" Sakura asked.

"What happened here? Why is this place so desolated?" questioned Kakashi.

Bent over coughing from the blow to the chest, Yuki continued ,"some men came looking for to steal from us. When they went through everything we had" the man said frantically. "Please Mr. Uchiha! You have to help me" he begged.

Kakashi could only put his hands up in a nervous smile. Before he could correct the man, Sakura interjected.

"Mr. Uchiha? Why do you suppose we would help you?" asked Sakura.

"I've made it my life's work to restore pieces of the Uchiha history" he pointed to the room which Sakura was trying to enter with the Uchiha crest above the doorway. Inside, she peeked, was an untouched pristine collection of relics and treasure concerning the Uchiha clan. Sakura gazed in awe of the collection, any other day she would be tearing up from the sight of such a collection, but today she simply stood in shock as she illuminated the entire room with a green glow. Kakashi and Yuki joined Sakura into the room and they all stood in awe.

"…Y-You." Yuki looked at Kakashi, "Uchihas are protectors! It's in their blood. They are a major police force across the world-" Yuki stopped himself. "I guess, I mean, t-t-they were" he nervously looked at his own hands. He peered up a Kakashi in awe. Kakashi caught Yuki's look of hope and admiration.

"I am not here to protect anyone, I am here to look for a couple missing ninjas from the land of fire, hidden leaf village. Have you seen or met any?" Kakashi asked.

"You're from Konohagakure?!" Yuki shrieked in excitement and continued "I worked with the three ninjas from Konohagakure! Then that mean's you are here to save me and the rest of the artifacts from the museum, right?!".

Sakura jumped to Yuki's side in shock, "tell us everything you know!"

Yuki peered down the empty hallway and signaled for Kakashi and Sakura to enter the Uchiha exhibit with him. He close the door and lead the two into a far corner where an even smaller door existed, it blended in with the decorations of the room to produce a camouflage. Yuki invited both of them into his secret room. Kakashi and Sakura looked at each other and entered the small doorway into the tiny room.

It housed a small couch facing a table and a large bookshelf cluttered in paperwork, boxes and books. There was a tiny sink and a microwave near the window covered with newspaper against a window to keep the light out. The place was riddled with top ramen and old clothes, best of all, it smelled like 3 week old wet dog. Yuki threw his clothes and paperwork off the couch and offered Kakashi and Sakura a seat as he turned a lamp on. They walked in, looked around and took a seat. Yuki prepared some tea while he began telling the story of the missing ninjas, "Masamura, Sageki and Hiro tracked the investigation of the pearl to the black market once they reached the Land of Water."

"Why did they track it to the black market?" asked Sakura curiously. This was new information to her.

"It appears that the reason the pearl had disappeared was for three reasons: Either someone had the pearl and didn't know it was or someone did have it and didn't know how to use it or didn't want to use it" began Yuki.

Sakura suddenly interrupted him, "what do you mean not know how to use it? Is there some other information about the pearl you found?".

"Yes. An ancient document in the museum, which was partially burnt, spoke about a ritual. Written on it was the unsuccessful initiation of an important treasure that required pure blood. Now along the text it is very hard to make out what exactly they are talking about, but the corner of one of the burnt edges held the second half of the symbol for the word 'pearl'. Thus, I personally believe this is a ritual trying to activate the pearl. On top of that, it was dated around the time the pearl went missing in the textbooks".

Sakura stood there mesmerized by all this new information, wishing her best friend Miki was here to indulge with her.

Yuki continued, "there were many conditions needed to be met to initiate the use of the pearl and once it has latched on to someone; it would only become useable to that person…unless they are killed. Then the killer gets hold of the pearl, but has to activate it again using the ritual." he pointed out to Sakura. He turned to them with two cups of tea and handed one to Kakashi and Sakura. They thanked him and continued listening.

"Although killing someone with the pearl of unlimited healing may be difficult, it is possible if someone was **strong** enough to kill the holder on _the first swing_ \- unable to allow time for regeneration. Immortality through endless regenerating chakra, that is the power of the pearl. Because this pearl hasn't been heard of or used in the last three generations- this lead us to conclude that the current holder might not know he has it- or doesn't want to use it - or doesn't know _how_ to use it."

"Power enough to kill the previous holder in one full swing. Someone doesn't have to be powerful, enough money to buy a mercenary can get you a kill like that. The knowledge to activate it is tricky though." concluded Kakashi aloud.

"Exactly. Either way, someone needs the information we have. Someone has to believe that we know the secrets of the pearl." Yuki looked down at his cup and sat on the side of a small table facing the couch.

"We held a sting operation lead by your three ninjas. Inviting anyone with interest in the pearl, anyone with enough money to buy heavy mercenaries, and anyone strong enough to kill on one blow- we had our hands full with guests for the auction. Believing the three ninjas alone would not be enough if we were attacked, we asked for aid from the Mizukage and he sent us a few good ninja on his behalf." Sakura and Kakashi were held in suspense holding their tea..

"To draw out people who might possible have it? Or to figure out who wanted information on activating it?" questioned Sakura, "What were you hoping to achieve through the auction?"

"We held the auction of the fake pearl as planned, the plan was that one of our own men would be disguised as a buyer and we would inevitably sell it to him no matter what price he bid" said Yuki. Sakura and Kakashi both looked at each other as though it sounded like a terrible plan.

"Inviting criminals and murderers to an auction to pretend to sell them a fake jewl that promises them infinite life? That is an unnecessary danger for such little information to be got" commented Kakashi. "Only an idiot would chase this dead end farther" sighed Kakashi sipping on his tea slowly, "and the only idiots I know who would chase this further are idiots _in love_ ". Kakashi stared at Sakura with his last words...

Sakura could feel the blame weigh on her shoulders with Kakashi's comment. She looked down at her tea with shame...she felt irritated by Kakashi's comment but at the same time she knew there might be some truth behind it.

Yuki caught on to the tension in the room following the comment and tried to ignore it. "What we didn't know was that we were betrayed. The Mizukage was hoping to capture and interrogate whoever showed up to this auction...he wanted to capture the kingpins and criminals we invited for his own benefit to gain favor among his people". Yuki lowered his head. "We did not know this was his intention when we asked for backup" Yuki hesitated to continue and his voice began to crack.

"Maybe the plan would have gone well had it not been for that..." Yuki's voice drifted off. There was a dark silence in the room.

"I'm pretty sure that plan would have gone awry no matter what, the Mizukage isn't to blame." Sakura commented and Yuki gave her a quick glare.

"Where is everybody now?" asked Sakura. "Are they with him? Did the three ninja's get caught by the mizukage? They weren't suppose to get discovered by him, it was a complete covert operation..." Sakura sighed with relief, "we can just ask the Hokage to speak to the Mizukage if that is where they are" she nodded at Kakashi. Yuki caught onto her words for a moment and his face lit up.

"N-n-no...they were ambushed at the auction" Yuki blurted out. Kakashi and Sakura both turned to Yuki in shock.

"Yes,...the people's republic is a growing rebel group that have been in war with the government here for some time now, and when they heard of the auction for the pearl they raided it. Everyone went missing after that…" Yuki lowered his head only to raise it again a moment later.

"Between the Mizukage's men, the rebels, the kingpins, and the mercinaries-" he sighed. "It was a blood bath".

"Who was there?! Is there a list of who made it out so that we could ask them in detail what happened to our men?" Sakura pleaded.

"Actually, the old chief director of the museum was the only one to return from the auction, but he went into hiding and never said anything about the events that occurred-no matter how much I asked. He was traumatized after he returned, he went into hiding and shortly after..." Yuki squeezed the table and lowered his head trying to hold back his tears. "All the information of who attention was destroyed when they raided the museum. There is no trace of anything happening,...just like the mizukage would want." Yuki said, holding back sobs.

"The museum was raided the following day after the auction. The Mizukage and attacked the museum, he needed to keep his failure hidden. When they came, they were also looking for the pearl. They stole and broke everything, the only thing I managed to save were artifacts of my lifes work…" Yuki got up and pulled out a box from underneath the sink. He placed the box on top of the table where he was sitting.

Sakura and Kakashi peeked inside to find stacks of paperwork, photos, art, jewelry and small weapons with the Uchiha crest engraved on them. Kakashi lifted up a painting from the box that revealed Uchiha Madara in war armor being lifted up in praised by Uchiha soldiers.

Kakashi had to chuckle when noticing the face Madara was making in the picture. It was the same expression as Sasuke...trying to hold back a blush of happiness while looking to the side with a strong persona of annoyance. Kakashi turned the picture over to Sakura who immediately saw it and gave a good laugh. "That's exactly the face he would make, huh?" Sakura giggled to Kakashi. They both agreed and kept digging through the treasure box. Yuki grew increasingly nervous,.."you know, this is my life's work here. There's no need to go through it one by one.." he tried to interject- but the two ignored him.

Yuki remained bewildered by their responses. Kakashi and Sakura kept digging and looking at each object piece by piece, giving comments here and there. Sakura reached in the box and grabbed a necklace of the Uchiha crest, it called to her as she stared at the blood red ruby etched tightly above a white glistening gem. It is the same blood red HIS eyes turned when would go into sharingan mode, Sakura is suddenly taken into a flashback.

Sasuke arrived to save Sakura during the chunin exam. Only for her to discover he was bitten and was marked by Orochimaru's seal. He looked into Sakura's distorted eyes covered in wounds... she looked into the blood red eyes of Sasuke's sharingan. It flashed a deep sense of hurt and anger. Sakura could see the alarm on Sasuke's face- he knew she was peering into his emotions. Sasuke turned to Sakura's attackers. "Sakura," he growled from behind his clenched teeth, "who did this to you?"…Sasuke went on a bloody rampage trying to tear the limbs off the opponents before her when he was stopped by her pleas. She threw her arms around him and begged him to stop, crying into his back. The curse marks slowly reversed its spread. She felt her hands on his chest as his breathing slowed down. His smell had encompassed her in an embrace just as much as she was holding him in her own embrace. He turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder at her. She looked up at Sasuke from behind, large pleading eyes filled with tears. His eyes met hers, there was pain and misery in Sasuke's eyes upon locking with hers. More importantly, there was a secret message only she could see...She could never forget- to this day, those blood red eyes filled with pain and regret. The blood red in his eyes oozed with a raw emotion that she was sure only her eyes have ever felt.

Sakura was returned back to the room when Yuki shook her shoulder. "Are you okay? Whats wrong!" Yuki asked. Sakura smiled and shook her head, "I'm sorry I don't know what got over me. I guess I am really just admiring this necklace is all" she said as she put the necklace down.

"You had us worried, you were kind of out of it for a while there" commented Yuki and he sat back down on the table.

"So, you're presenting these relics to us because you don't feel they are safe here?" continued Kakashi.

"You guys are here to save the relics right?," said Yuki, "I was requesting a safe transfer to Konohagakure in exchange for aiding your three ninja in their quest for the pearl. I gave them everything I had and now look at my museum! It is only fitting that Konoha keep their word of the bargain! A-a-and these relics! Seeing as how Konoha is the resting place of the Uchiha stronghold, as well as the home of the last surviving Uchiha!" Yuki joyfully points at Kakashi. Kakashi and Sakura's eyes both follow Yuki's finger towards Kakashi.

"You know, I've met an Uchiha when I was younger, he saved my life. S-s-so I am really so very glad I get a chance to meet the last one and really thank you for all your clan had done throughout history. It's a great honor to meet you" Yuki said with a smile.

Kakashi waved his had in denial, "No no no, I'm not that guy. I don't carry the Uchiha name or blood line".

Sakura gave a nervous laugh and attempted to think of a decent subject changer so that Kakashi doesn't have to explain where he got his Sharingan from. Kakashi remained baffled for words. Kakashi sharply interjected before Sakura could stop Yuki's ongoing questions for Kakashi.

"Oh! If you want to thank someone way closer to the last Uchiha, you should ask Sakura. She is practically the head to the continuation of the bloodline!" Kakashi snickered and Sakura turned bright red as she punched his shoulder, knocking him off the couch and into the wall. The glare she gave him was vile, her face was hot and she was at a loss for words.

Yuki interrupted their playful banter-

"Please! Take me with you, I will be attacked and all these Uchiha artifacts and information will be lost with me" Yuki quickly got on the floor and bowed down before them. Kakashi returned back to the couch and Sakura looked at him with uncertainty about Yuki's request. Kakashi shrugged to Yuki, "well, if it's okay with the Uchiha Princess here, then it's okay with me. She is the leader of the rodeo show here. I'm sure we could send a message to Konoha to get you migrated with refugee status". Sakura gave another glare at Kakashi's little nick-name for her, although she secretly kind of enjoyed the sound of it. Sakura placed her fingers on her chin and peers up in contemplation, she _was_ the leader, wasn't she? She could do whatever she wanted to.

"First!" she said sternly to Yuki who was still bowing on the ground, "you must buy us each a room at the bed and breakfast across the park!". Kakashi was definitely not expecting that response and fell to the floor in disbelief.

"Second," Sakura continued, "you must tell me everything in detail about the three missing ninjas! Including where you think they are now"

"The chief director was last seen with them! If you find him, you will definitely find them! I swear. I'll tell you anything else you want to know, but please help me escape the land of water! I'm not safe here!" Yuki pleaded at Sakura's feet.

"Deal, but if we don't find our missing ninja's then you don't go to Konoha!" Sakura barked at the groveling Yuki. Kakashi returned to his seat on the couch and praised Sakura's forward leadership. This was the response he was initially expecting from her.

"...And from now on you can call me princess uchiha if you like" Sakura joked to lightened the mood of the room. Yuki looked up to see if she was serious,.. he grinned and stood up with a smile, "Yes your majesty!".

Sakura returned the smile, "and last, you need to bring us an object that belonged to your chief director before he disappeared!"

Kakashi rose with a smile and patted her back, "way to stay on target Sakura".


	5. Chapter 5

The sun was shining through the balcony and the birds were chirping again. The windowsill was fixed with many beautiful flowers. The curtains blew a salty island breeze into the bedroom. Sakura laid covered in the fluffiest blankets possibly ever known to man. She slowly awoke with a stretch and then cuddled the covers around her in the bed, she admired the view of the park from the window. She giggled to herself, completely engulfed in the white sheets and magical sunlight, it is everything she hoped it to be and made a mental note to herself to always include a bed and breakfast inn into missions in the future.

There was a knocking at the door, "your Breakfast is ready, are you available to be served?" asks the waiter from outside the room. Sakura's eyes roll over in delight, she stuck her head out of the covers to sing, "come on in". She threw the covers down and sat up at the head of the bed only to come to a screeching halt upon discovering none other than Kakashi sitting at the head of the bed next to her.

"Someones in a good mood this morning huh?" he chirped with a smile, while putting down his book on his lap. Sakura's mouth launched wide open in alarm as the waiter entered the room with a large plate of breakfast. Two separate trays of breakfast were placed in front of both Kakashi and Sakura. Sakura had yet to move from her stunned disposition and Kakashi thanked the waiters for the food as they left. Kakashi began eating without a care in the world.

"Why are you in my bed?!" Sakura finally screamed out. Kakashi smiled over at her, "Yuki snores really loudly and I knew you wouldn't mind since you got the only queen size bed left in the inn. Eat up! Ittadakimasuu" he said before fitting some bacon in his mouth.

"Of course, I mind!" Sakura snapped at him.

Kakashi ignored her as he took a piece of her bacon from her tray. "Well, If we were in a tent, you know - same as in the hundred other missions we have had in the past- it wouldn't matter would it? Don't worry, I made sure to wait till you finished screaming 'SASUKE-kun SASUKE-kun' before I entered!" Kakashi joked as he ate. Sakura was completely embarrassed,

"I DID NOT!" she threw her hand at his tray to smack his breakfast away and it was easily deflected by Kakashi.

"No, that's not right…what has his name again? Sageki?" Kakashi casually added as he continued eating with the other hand. Sakura grabbed the large white pillow at her shoulder and slammed it repeatedly at Kakashi before punching and kicking him with a playful furry. Kakashi's laughter could be heard through the hallway outside.

Times like these reminded him of the genin days when they were free to joke around and enjoy missions together as team7, a little joking always brought them together.

* * *

It was just soon after breakfast when Kakashi returned to Yukis room. Although she was suppose to be collecting her things to get ready, Sakura decided to enjoy the comforts of the bed once again. Sakura was happy to sleep with a stomach full of food. She locked her door and got into her favorite panties to enjoy her slumber alone. She sprawled out on the bed and contemplated the mission,... she worried about Sageki. Is it possible he is in trouble? that can't be right. She was sure he was safe somewhere.

She repeatedly reassured herself that Sageki was a competent young man. He was a lot like Naruto! There was no way that his persistence, would lead him into life threatening danger. Naruto, for example, always came out on top- no matter the circumstance. Sasuke defied all odds and even turned his back on everyone he loved to pursue his dream, despite it being a dark dream- he was persistant nonetheless. All these great people had the same strong attributes in common, persistence. She saw it in Sageki's eyes when he begged her for months to allow him to take her research mission. She knew he wouldn't fail her.

She remembered the joy in Sageki's his smile when she finally told him that he was approved for this mission...with a grin Sakura slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

She woke up two hours later with a feeling as though someone was watching her. She slowly crept out of bed and walked toward the open window. She could see the pastels in the sky from the sunset,... she covered her bare chest with the comforter and pulled her head out the window to look around the area. She called out for Kakashi, but he was no where insight... There was no chakra reading.

Shrugging, Sakura turned to the room and slowly began collecting her clothes to take a shower. She put on one of her favorite large shirts before throwing her clothes above the bed. She passed by the dresser with a large mirror set above it and stopped in front of where her weapons were laid out on the countertop. She could see a the reflection of the park trees from beyond the window through this mirror. Something shone a bright light in her eye, the spark of a reflective object shining from the treetops in the park. She stopped and squinted her eyes, peering closely at the reflection- when to her confirmation, she heard the unnatural sound of rustling of tree branches. She quickly grabbed one of the kunai laid out in front of her on the drawers and turned to throw the kunai out the window directly the treetops across the street.

A tree branch swiftly fell and a few crows flew out of the condensed bundle of trees. Sakura stood there glaring just in front of the corner of her window. She waited with a kunai in hand for another sign of movement...after a while, she was sold that whatever had been there in the park, now left. She reached to shut the glass shutters of the window before heading to her shower. Maybe it was her imagination or just some kids goofing off in the park, but she really shouldn't sleep partly naked anymore she thought to herself. Shrugging again, she headed for the shower a bit concerned.

…

Sakura walked over to Yuki and Kakashis room following her nice long shower. She mentally decided not to make anything of the earlier pre-bath event, and she wouldn't even mention it. She rapped on the door to be welcomed by Kakashi and his large herd of dogs. Entering the tiny crowded room, careful not to step on the dogs, she understood why Kakashi was eager to sneak into her room.

Sakura waved a hello to Yuki who was now covered in dogs on the bed.

"Did the dogs find the missing ninjas or Yuki's friend?"asked Sakura.

"Not the ninja's," sighed Kakashi, "they were able to find the director of the museum who witnessed the attack during the auction. The object Yuki brought from the museum led the dogs right to him. Let's hope we can get good information from him tonight".

"Great! An interrogation mission!" responded Sakura full of energy. It was a good lead to the boys.

"Me and Yuki have been devising a plan while you were getting ready. His scent was strongest at a Bar at the north part of town known as the Robin" Kakashi said.

"However, that bar happens to be known as a strong house for the rebellion group who attacked the museum!" added Yuki. Sakura stood there, reading the fear in Yuki's tone...

"Well Yuki, will you stay here while me and Kakashi will go and extract information from this guy?" she asked.

"He won't tell you anything! I already tried to get information from him the day after the raid. He wouldn't tell me a single thing, it's like he's a different person. He's a total monster." complained Yuki.

"Just leave it to us!" Sakura assured Yuki, "could you give us some details on how we can spot him? What does he look like?"

"His name is Satoshi Yamatoru and he is a 50 year old male with thick black hair, brown eyes. He always wears a dark green overcoat and black work pants, he has a birth mark shaped like a leaf under his right jaw. He is light skinned and always holds a stern look on his face, you can't miss him" Yuki explained. Sakura and Kakashi both nodded.

"When do you think you might be ready, Kakashi?" she asked as she turned to Kakashi.

"I am ready to go, however, I recommend we go in civilian clothing. If this is a rebellion stronghold- we don't want to draw attention" Kakashi stated. Sakura nodded and knew she had brought just the clothes for this. Sakura was unlikely to need it, but had to prepare for the case she would have to use her seduction technique to interrogate him. She had brought her tight red dress with the slit on the sides, her knee high boots matched it well. The boots hid weapons and important tricks she might need, as well as her bra and garter belts that strapped more hidden weapons within her reach.

Tsunade had indeed taught her well and sent her on classified training missions, certifying her as one of the few seduction kunoichi in the village. A certification classified only to the privy of the Hokage. God forbid one of the members of team seven ever became Hokage and found out about Sakura's classification. Very unlikely to happen in the near future although Naruto would surely obtain the title eventually- she would have to cross that bridge when he gets there.

The seduction technique is a rare and unique art form of chakra jitsu. It works by sending out sweet chakra as an aroma, when it hits the senses of the target, their judgement becomes clouded. Their surroundings becomes blurred as though they are drunk, only the figure of the enchantress is clear to them. The target then finds it hard to sense any other chakra or to summon chakra, that is, if the enchantress is good enough to produce the chakra well enough. The thoughts of the target would focus solely on the enchantress and her words, making them susceptible to be interrogated and manipulated by the enchantress at this point. Various subcategories and specialties within the art of the seduction technique can tweak the charka, turning it into a truth serum, hallucinogen or a paralytic agent- to name a few.

It is important for an enchantress omitting this charka jitsu to practice on its stealth. The scent can be picked up on and recognized by other knowing ninjas if it is too sudden or too strong - ruining the cover of the enchantress, placing her in considerable danger. It takes a heavy amount of chakra and steady control to let out an effective stream of the correct amount of seduction chakra and maintain it while interrogating someone. Using this technique drains the enchantress fairly quickly and leaves them open for an attack.

Sakura was always very reluctant to use the seduction technique. It made her grow tiresome and required lots of concentration. Her first failed seduction mission involved her accidentally fuming a crowd of civilians with the chakra, who in turn became drunk, rapid with lust and thus created a mass hysteria. Her last failed seduction mission almost cost her a leg by a bystander caught in the cross fumes. Sakura knows too well that to civilians who were not endowed with chakra, the effects could be a little too strong at times. She was in no way a master of the technique, but had used her fair share to generally know how little she needed for the mission ahead. She could confidently let out a small amount to interrogate a regular civilian without problems... if they were not a trained ninja of course.

* * *

Night had fallen upon the northern part of the city. Sakura and Kakashi arrived at the roof of the bar. Kakashi wore a button up shirt and dress pants to give the façade of a normal office working civilian. Kakashi pointed at an alley visible from the rooftops, about three blocks away from the bar, "that's the rally point if we get separated". Sakura nodded in agreement, "maybe we should enter the bar separately so we have two chances to interrogate him- incase one of us should fail" she added...trying not to make it seem like a competition as to who could interrogate the man first.

Kakashi smiled and agreed, making no second thought of it before jumping down from the rooftop onto a nearby alley- joining with the regular crowd of civilians walking into the bar. Sakura would plan to let Kakashi go first and wait until he fails before making her seduction jitsu attempt. She didn't want to use it if it wasn't necessary, Kakahi had already seen her use the technique once. Hopefully he thinks Sakura is just a avid reader who picked up a little bit of the technique from old books. She doesn't want to give herself away, even to him. She would be fairly embarrassed to have Kakashi catch wind of her past seduction missions, especially the failures. Sakura waited a few minutes before following after Kakashi into the bar.


	6. Chapter 6

To my readers, I have gone back and corrected errors in previous chapters in attempt to make the story flow better. I am learning a lot by writing and I can assure you that I am trying to improve. Please leave me a review, as it drives my desire to continue.

Thank you for your patience thus far

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Sakura enters through the large wooden door of the bar into a short hallway. The hallway reeked of old beer and cigarette smoke. There were five doors in the short hallway, two on each side and one in front of her at the end of the hallway. The banter of drunken men could be heard best through the door at the end of the hallway. Passing multiple filthy propaganda posters in favor of the rebellion crusade along the walls, Sakura entered into the bar room and was overwhelmed by the cloud of smoke and number of men in the bar, who paused to watch her enter.

None of these men seemed like activists or rebellion leaders...

This was a large open room bar with multiple wooden tables and wooden beams along the ceiling. A large chandelier with antlers hung in the middle of the room from the ceiling. On one end of the room was an impressive bar counter made of oak with a vast collection of liquor behind the counter. The charm of the large wooden tables, dim lighting and fine liquor bottle sets were impossible to see past the slew of drunken buisnessmen dancing, shouting and running about the room. Men were passed out and throwing up in corners. Only a handful of women were on scene- trying to get business by the looks of it, all the other customers were older men with nothing better to do on a tuesday night.

Sakura scanned the room and spotted Kakashi at the bar, next to suspect number one. A man matching a similar description given to us by Yuki. Light skin, thick black hair and heavy green overcoat.

Sakura walked over to a small open standing table at the side of the bar where she could get a good view of Kakashi in action. She gestured at a passing waitress to bring her a drink. Kakashi seemed to already be making small talk and Sakura was impressed at the speed in which Kakashi was able to get the ball rolling. Maybe she should have only gave him a few minutes head start, the playing field was even.

Sakura's beer arrived as she had been watching Kakashi. Not long after, she sensed a hand reach out from the crowd of drunk men behind her to grab her arm. Without taking her eyes off Kakashi, she sensed it and effortlessly reached out for the intrusive hand then forcefully bent one of the fingers backward. A scream and a few awes were heard before she released the finger, without having her eyes leave Kakashi. Sakura sipped her beer in peace, ignoring the eyes on the room now watching her. She began scanning the bar for other possible suspects.

She wasn't sure if her seduction chakra skills were on par to prevent any other person than her target from becoming intoxicated. Precision hadn't been her forte in previous seduction missions. If the room accidently is set ablaze by lack of control of her seduction technique- she really needed to ensure she had an escape route.

Scanning the room, she spotted the large opening oblivious to her before. Beyond to the ornamental chandelier hanging gallantly in the middle of the bar, there is a Moon roof stretching along the top of the inclined ceiling. Sakura looked out into the sky and for a moment was stunned by the detail of the moon. She paused to admire it, it was exactly the same as it had been on that one fateful day… Sakura began to fade into a sweet memory, completely numb to the world around her.

She was sitting in the Konoha park on that night, with the moon fully lit- just like tonight. It was large and its beauty glazed everything in a blue tinted moonlight. Sakura sat there under a large oak contemplating many things, most importantly- how to convince Sasuke to stay in Konoha,..with her. She understood him well and knew that there were probably no words strong enough to tear him from his persistent focus-even if it cost his own life. Could she threaten to take her own life if he left? Threaten to snitch on him? No. She couldn't do that to him. The best thing she could try to do was appeal to his love for her in hopes it would convince him to take her with him. But what had she to give him in value if she were to come? How could she tempt him into agreeing? Even more, how dare she believe that she could protect Sasuke when he was in need? When he was so much stronger than her! She sighed in frustration. Just then she heard his footsteps coming down the path along the oak tree. Those steps rang in her ear, she was hoping she wouldn't have to hear them tonight. She had sat underneath this oak tree many times, along the path to the nearest exit Sasuke would have to take if he were to leave the village. She stood up and walked down the ominous path bathed in blue moonlight, standing firmly in the middle of it. She could see Sasuke, bag on his shoulders and mind set on a mission. She looked up and begged the moon for strength as he approached her. No matter what was about to happen, she wasn't about to let him leave.

Just then a heavy object was projected across the bar and struck the spaced out Sakura on the back of the head. It shattered and left a sharp sting. She quickly grabbed the back of her head and looked around the bar. She was shocked to see multiple fights occurring! The place looked like utter chaos. How long had she been spaced out? She checked her hands for any blood from the back of her head. Suddenly remembering the mission, she turned her gaze across the bar where Kakashi had been sitting. It was him who was now violently being dragged out the bar by 5 heavy set men in black uniforms. He makes a giant "x" with his arms at Sakura. The man he had been integrating was screaming, throwing beer towards Kakashi in rage.

Of course, thought Sakura to herself, this is a hideout for men of the rebellion group that invaded the museum. If this guy's scent was found at a hideout, then he's probably hiding. The question was- where would he be hiding?

"hmm.." Sakura sat there trying to refocus the setting of the bar, which now seemed like some sort of comical movie set. She thought to herself that the man they are looking for is probably here just trying to hide. He probably wouldn't be lingering in the open air of the bar, especially with so many people around who could identify him.

Sakura stood up and placed her hand on the back of her head where she got hit. She begins feigning a strong head injury and limped toward the exit, in the direction where the men were took Kakashi. She passes by arguing drunks, concerned men asking if Sakura would like them to take care of her, and men still attempting to grope her as she limped to the hallway- the whole spectrum of bar behavior in just the few feet from her seat to the door. She made a mental note to never come to a bar again. As she opened the exit door leading to the hallway entrance, she noted two doors on the left with bathroom signs and two unmarked doors on the right. She hobbles towards the first unmarked door and began peeking inside.

There was a flight of stairs that lead to a cellar type of room...Very suspicious she remarked to herself as she began to step down the narrow flight of stairs.

Hearing the sound of Kakashi getting pounded and moaning in pain shocked Sakura. She stopped dead in her tracks and returned up to the hallway to follow the sound. She popped her head into the neighboring unmarked door where the sound seemed to be coming from. Kakashi would never be placed under such a precarious situation by simple civilians, she thought to herself. Her head entered through the crack of the door to witness Kakashi moaning loudly as he punched a large bag of rice in the corner of what seemed to be a stock supply room. The 5 burly men who had earlier carried him away were all unconscious on the floor now. Kakashi looked over at Sakura and waved, he gave her the okay sign with one hand and kept on with his fake show for an audience of none in the hallway. Sakura slithered out of the room with a long eye roll, 'how is this idiot one of the most accomplished shinobi in Konoha?' she muttered to herself.

She returned back to the initial room with the stair to the cellar and began to climb down. It was very poorly lit, but anyone could see that the room stored barrels of various wine and whiskey. At first glance, it appeared to be a regular cellar room, but a large opening at the end of the room revealed it to be much more.

She walked closer to the opening and saw that it was like a command center, with a large chalkboard, maps, books sprawled everywhere and a large table in the middle. At the table sat a single man drinking in the silence of candlelight. It seems Sakura startled him with her footsteps as he quickly turned over to her. He drew a knife from the table. Sakura stood there frozen for a moment and then decided that a drunken charade could probably just get her out of this situation providing her a clean interrogation without hurting the man.

"oh my god.. is this where the bathroom is? I don't feel so good…" Sakura hunched over and feigned some dry heaving sounds while swaying back and forth. Disgusted, the man found no threat in the lost drunk girl ultimately put the knife down to place a large trash can in front of Sakura. She could get a good look at the man now that he was close enough to offer his help. She quickly noticed the birthmark aforementioned by Yuki. She needed no more confirmation, this was the man she needed to interrogate! In just the perfect place for her to practice her seduction jitsu.

She placed her hand on his shoulder as he held the trash can for her. Pretending to lose her balance, she leaned her weight on him-strategically placing her breasts at his side...

"Had too much to drink now have we?" said the man with a deep voice as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I got hit" Sakura provided a convincing drunken pause, "in the head with a bottle! Look!" She lowered her head abruptly and buried it in his chest, pointing to the back of her head for him to see. With her head in his chest Sakura now began to focus on creating her seduction chakra and prepared to emit it from her lips. She looked upward at his face with the biggest innocent green eyes she could muster. He stroked the back of her head kindly and told her the injury isn't visible, she would be alright. He pointed to the staircase and told her that he would take her to the bathroom. She focused her gaze on his eyes and then lead her eyes to his lips, he watched her timidly as she began to close her eyes and lean into comically give him a drunken kiss, mouth puckered. With her breath and lips emitting seduction chakra, he froze in shock of the awkward situation. She paused right before her lips met his, knew she had him. Her open mouth is centimeters from his frozen lips he was inhaling the chakra from her, his eyes opened dramatically. She knew she had him hooked like a fish once his pupils dilated.

Her concentration broke when she suddenly she heard a large wine barrel break behind them, near the staircase. The man and Sakura both turn toward the entrance where the exploded barrel sat alone with wine now cascading out. Sakura felt the chakra begin to disappear along with her focus, she quickly returned back to the man- grabbing his face close to hers as she emitted a large wave of seduction chakra into him by kissing him. His dilated eyes opened wide in shock and his face became instantly flushed.

"Yesss", Sakura whispered to herself as she draws back. She then began the interrogation as he stares devotionally at her.

"My name is Akira." Says Sakura to the man, "What's your name?"

"I'm Yamatoru. I am one of the head branch members of the Rebelion forces in the land of water" he tells her truthfully.

"amazing. I LOVE the rebellion forces and everything they stand for!" giggles as she took his arm and twirled herself in his arms. "I know everything about them. I could amaze you" she smiles at him. He stared at her, purely mesmerized, "that so? Amaze me" he smiled at her.

"I've lived in so much suffering under this shitty country! I'm glad we finally have the pearl so we can take down this tyrannical government and show them the true strength of the land of the water" she remarked to him while caressing his cheeks. God my acting really needs some polishing, she thought to herself. I sound like a freshman trying to recite Shakespeare for the first time. I really hope my chakra is strong enough for him to not notice how bad this is.

"You're as smart as you are beautiful it seems" he chuckled. Sakura sighed in relief. He continued, "once we have all the hokage emblems then the world is ours and we WILL claim the water of water the most powerful. Our people will no longer suffer..." he repeated to her almost robotically. then continued in a romantic tone as he stared lovingly into her eyes.

"And maybe, I will have you as my queen on my altar, beside me. The smartest and most beautiful woman in all the world at my side" he said transfixed on her eyes, leaning closer to her face.

Sakura paused for a moment, "Wait" she said as she put her finger on his ever so close mouth that reeked of liquor. "You don't have the pearl?" she questioned him in all seriousness.

"Nononono my love" he quickly corrected himself, speaking through Sakura's finger pressed against his mouth. "But can have it once we have all the emblems!" he yelled out trying to convince a now pouting Sakura.

"How can you lie to me?" Sakura turned away from him and walked a step out of his arms. "How do you know you will have it soon? There's no other way to destroy the Mizukage! When will my suffering end?! I don't believe you!" she dramatically screeched in a poor performance.

"I can't tell you that information my love, all I can tell you is that we had the water emblem... I have to get it back and when I do the other two are not too far behind. I have good men in land of sound that could come to aid the resistance..." he drew a long pause. "Our numbers and cut and now I fear I don't have much longer to live unless I escape to the land of sound... There's a price on my head and I don't want you to get involved" he tried to convince her as he placed his arms around her shoulders. Sakura decided to amp up the charka a little bit to get more out of him. He began nuzzling her neck and then spun Sakura around to kiss her lips. Completely disgusted, Sakura let out a little more chakra than she intended to and suddenly, in an unconscious form of defense that even shocked her! She slapped the man as hard as she knew how to. The sound of the slap echoed in the cellar and she stood there stunned.

Surely that slap was hard enough to accidently free him from the intoxication of her chakra. He looked at the ground and placed his hand on his cheek in surprise, eyes wide open. He turned to face Sakura in betrayal, awaiting an explanation. Sakura looked around the room nervously and decided to keep the charade going in hopes he is still under the influence of her chakra.

"DARLING! You lie to me! To your QUEEN? I thought we had something special" she says with heavy emotion. Sakura then turned and began to walk away from him in a rushed pace, this worked in all the movies. Sakura was certain she got caught, when unexpectedly she was stopped by two big hands embracing her right arm. She turned back around to face the man and saw him kneeling on the floor, hugging on her arm.

"You have bewitched me!" he declared.

"fuck" Sakura whispered to herself, he caught her. She held her breath and began to accumulate power chakra in her fist to deliver a heavy blow to his head, maybe he will forget all about this if she hits him hard enough.

"I will tell you anything you want to know! Please don't leave! Don't be upset with me" he wept and begged of her from the wine soaked ground. Sakura paused as she silently analyzed what he just said.

Oh. I guess the chakra _didn't_ wear off! Sakura praised herself and released the tension in her body.

"oh thank fucking god" she whispered to herself. Then continued the crazy charade that she called an interrogation.

Kakashi was silently walking down the cellar stairs to witness the madness firsthand, who knows how long he had been standing at the door listening to this soap opera of a poorly acted teenage drama.

"I thought you raided the museum to get the pearl? Everything thinks you have it! What about the auction in the forest?! What about the three boys that were with you?" Sakura shouted at him as he pulled on her arm from the floor.

"Nooo. It was the Akatsuki! The Akatsuki slayed our men at the museum and the auction!" the man cried out.

Sakura's eyes turned wide open and her mouth let out a gasp.

"I worked for the museum for years, but it wasn't until those three men showed up from Konoha that all this trouble started. It was only when I found out about the auction that I discovered my colleagues had stolen the gem, without telling me! They said we were auctioning it because the museum was going under. I couldn't let all my years of hard work be sold to the highest bidder! I had to steal the gem back during the auction." he pleaded.

"What about the men at the auction who disappeared?! What happened at the auction?!" Sakura continued enthusiastically.

"The auction? All my good men died in that auction…everyone" he begins to trail off and slowly turned to the wall as he relived the memory of the auction. "The pearl was sold to the highest bidder, a powerhouse of a man with his fingers in all the casinos and weapons trade across the land of the sound. His name is Kuroma Shichiro, head king pin of the sound underworld." He paused and Sakura can hear the seduction chakra leaving him as the tone of his voice lowered. Sakura looked behind her to see Kakashi at the stairs, his face was wickedly impressed that this man was spilling everything so easily. Kakashi gave her a thumbs up and a smile. Sakura turned to face the man, now in full monologue towards the wall.

"Once the final bidder was set, my men launched a surprise attack to obtain the box with the gem as it was being given to Kuroma's men." he continued.

"Why do you keep calling the pearl a 'gem'?" Sakura asked. The man ignored her and continued in his monologue.

"once we got the box after a bloody battle between everyone there - the Akatsuki arrived. It was total slaughter, I opened the box and saw that it was empty…I ordered my men to retreat and I took off as fast as I could..." the man was in tears against the wall sobbing like a child. Sakura cringed, she hated crying men. She turned to Kakashi who shrugged at her,

"What did you give him? That's one hell of a serum" Kakashi whispered to her while the man continued his monologue.

A sharp sudden silence made Kakashi and Sakura both turn their gaze back to the man- he suddenly stopped his monologue mid-sentence and was now slumped against the wall.

"holy shit! What DID you do Sakura?" Kakashi said as he rushed down to inspect the guy. Sakura scanned the room quickly and saw a dark figure dash across the dark wine barrels in the corner of the cellar. She ran to the corner of the cellar and found that it had a small entryway that lead down a long narrow underground.

Sakura yelled out to Kakashi, "I think there's someone in here!". Kakashi was busy inspecting the man, who suddenly appeared to be missing a pulse. Sakura couldn't wait for Kakashi and decided to continue down the tunnel after the fast shadow. She raced hurriedly down the tiny corridor, but it was far too dark to see anything and her target was quite fast. A loud bang suddenly boomed and a beam of moon light now lit the end of the dark hallway. The shadow burst out through the cellar opening a few paced before her. Sakura threw off all her weapons that fit snug against her garter belt and boots, she needed to pick up the pace. This shadow was the fastest thing she had seen in a long time.

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Please comment and review! I hope you guys are ready for some more action!


	7. Chapter 7

'Trash can. Fence. Roof. Watch out for the chimneys. Keep an eye on him' Sakura's mind raced as she tried to keep focus on her footing and chase her mystery witness. The speed at which they were going at was rather precarious. One wrong step and Sakura, from the rooftops at this speed, was sure enough to break more than just a few bones on impact to the ground. If it wasn't for the large bright moon shining down upon the city and illuminating each detail around her with a mystical blue, Sakura wouldn't be able to keep up with her footing or the target. The stars almost appeared to be gleaming with excitement as they cheered on the race from the heavens.

They raced through the rooftops, jumping up walls, running through courtyards, bouncing off fences and leaving no traces of their presence except for a gust of wind. The race was thrilling, the air whipped around Sakura so sharply that it screamed in her ears with the passion of speed.

Few things had been able to evade Sakura at top speed for this long. This was much longer than expected, it went on for minutes. Sakura could feel her exhaustion catching up as she noticed the frequencies of the buildings became less and less apparent. If only she hadn't just used up her chakra on the seduction jitsu! She cursed to herself as she felt her feet began to delay in speed. It seems she was not the only one short on energy, her target began to slow down too as they reached the outskirts of town.

A large brick wall with black iron fencing atop of it appeared past a long barren field on the outskirts of the town. The shadow continued running with Sakura in tow until it paused in front of the wall, leaving Sakura with a chance to get close enough to catch a glimpse of the figure from behind. It seemed like a man wearing a large black cloak, its hood had fallen off and exposed his jet black hair, which was spiked and straight. As she grew close to the stranger, her brain sent out signals of panic and pure adrenaline- but her body defied every warning it gave her as lunged forward. She threw her fist back and soaked it in all the chakra she could muster- throwing herself toward the figure standing patiently before the wall.

She watched his face begin to turn back toward Sakura in shock before disappearing with lightning speed as she punched straight through the wall, completely shattering it to crumbs with a loud boom that echoed for meters around. Sakura immediately turned to find the figure sitting in the branches of a nearby tree. He was crouched, somewhat out of breath. Sakura began to walk towards him but felt very light headed, she couldn't seem to keep her focus on much. She noticed her chakra was depleted and she was going to have to face her target unarmed, wearing a scandalous dress in a field in the outskirts of town alone. She couldn't show weakness or fear, she had definitely left the target in shock from her punch and it seems like he might be too tired and hesitant to fight. If she instilled enough fear in _him_ he might cooperate enough.

"Why were you in the cellar? What did you want with Yamatoru Satoshi?!" Sakura shouted sternly at the tree with the shadowy figure as she walked towards it with fists raised at her sides in a threatening manner. Only silence returned to her as the dark man sat in the tree watching her.

"Come down here and I promise not to kill you" growled Sakura with a sharp tone in her throat. The figure in the tree gave a light chuckle before deciding that Sakura was getting too close and jumped off the back end of the tree to the ground.

"Fuck. Not again" whispered Sakura to herself as she followed in pursuit.

There were not many trees for the figure to jump into, no shadows for him to use to hide as he raced along the field. Whipping past Sakura were tombstones, it seems the wall Sakura had broken belonged to that of the town cemetery. Now the two figures were sprinting across a vast graveyard with the moon as their background.

Sakura was getting dizzier and dizzier with each moment that was passing, she was swaying in her run and her arms were being thrown about with her strides.

With the forest far beyond the boundaries of the graveyard, the man was almost past the clearing of the graveyard to the safety of the forest.

Then, he began to slow down... He paused completely in his tracks not far from Sakura.

Sakura caught up to the stranger, but her vision was blurred. Before she knew what was happening - the ground was coming at her full speed. She was falling and she knew she wasn't coordinated enough at the moment to protect herself from the headstone that was about to collide with her forehead. She braced for the fall and the hard rock that was about to hit her head, when to her surprise- it never came. A few seconds passed with Sakura clenching her eyes closed preparing for impact.

Instead of an impact, there was a heavenly scent that overtook her. Surely she was dead she thought to herself, this smell was definitely one that only came from reaching heaven or something of the sort. The smell was from a distant memory... Her energy was returning to her.

She opened her blurry eyes to see that she was high off the ground. She tried to regain her focus and to her surprise she was on the shoulders of the man she had been chasing. Slung over his broad right shoulder, she was being carried back toward the entrance of the cemetery.

She paused in panic. She was certain she would be killed. She had to do something, try anything. She tried to fight her assailant by hitting his back. Without any energy, her punches were as soft as a child's.

His chuckle could be heard again as she continued her fruitless resistance. He walked up towards a stone bench near the wall Sakura had destroyed earlier. Hanging off the man's shoulder, she gazed up at the large pale moon as it shifted around in her in a blurry dance, asking for a miracle to spare her life.

He stopped in front of the bench and kneeled down to place Sakura on it, in the gentlest of ways. Sakura continued her light pounding of his shoulder in a soft debate as she was set down. The man stayed kneeling, looking down at the ground closely in front of her as he grabbed her hands. The moonbeams highlighted his soft black straight hair from the top of his head as he tried to restrain her hands from hitting him, it was all a bit like a dream somehow. The scent was now overwhelming as this man was now tenderly close to her.

"Forgive me. Please drop this" he whispered to her in a smokey, pleading tone.

She froze. Sakura's heart sunk down to her feet. She could lose consciousness again from the chill that shot down her spine. That voice, she could recognize anywhere. She stopped trying to fight his grip on her hands and she sat paralyzed as he held them.

Slowly, he looked up at her face.

Words could not describe the emotions that ran through Sakura in such a state. She was sitting on a moonlit bench with her face inches away from none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

His black onyx eyes set on her with a gleam. The blue moonlight highlighted his cheekbones and reflected off his dark eyes. The smallest grin shyly appeared on the side of his lips as his eyes scanned all of Sakura's face.

The pause between them was electric, mutually filled with words that could not be said. Sakura could only sit in silence. Words couldn't do justice to the wave of emotions around them. Instead, tears filled up her eyes and effortlessly cascaded down her face in silence.

After a few heavy moments of the two staring at each other, Sasuke placed a hand on Sakura's cheek and used his thumb to wipe the stream of tears from underneath her eye. She glanced to his hand on her cheek in disbelief and felt the stroke of his fingertips along her face. She returned her gaze back to Sasuke's face slowly...

but now it all changed.

The bright red glow of the sharingan replaced his onyx eyes. Even the pattern of black and red within his sharingan had changed from the last time she had seen it. As she stared deeply into his eyes, thinking about how long she had yearned for the chance to see it again, she immediately snapped out of the warm thought. His face was now stern.

Sakura gasped. He was an enemy and he now had her eyes locked on his method of attack. She began to panic but couldn't tear her eyes away. The shock on her face was apparent. She reached out to hold his face.

"no no no" she pleaded for him to stop. But it was too late.

She fell under his ninjitsu and her body went limp.

Yet again she was left on a stone bench, unconscious under the blanket of the moon by Sasuke Uchiha.

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Thank you again for reading.

If you felt that Sasuke was out of character in this chapter, please note that its a long standing reunion in this universe. I wanted to show emotions were high. Having that gone out of the way, he will show up again in later chapters, more in character.


	8. Chapter 8

Could Sakura recall the hours she was out? No. Time passed by so quickly in the world of a genjitsu. It was like a dream, but more than that, it felt more than real. All the senses are fully awake, anyone would be hard on their luck if they had to tell the difference between a genjitsu and reality. That being said, it was clear as to why Sakura was in no hurry to awaken from her imposed alternate reality.

She felt like she had been asleep in her bed forever, now just waking up to the heavenly smell of the person she loved most in the world. Confusion set into the core of Sakura as she moved her hand to feel the skin of another on her fingertips. She could feel her palm rising and falling as it were on someone's bare chest. Her heart sunk deep into her soul as she opened her eyes slowly.

She was in a beautiful hotel room surrounded by white. The window was open and the morning sunlight was bursting through, brightening up the room with a warm glow. There, she laid in the softest white bed sheets while being embraced by none other than the legendary Uchiha Sasuke.

With her head resting on his shoulder, face nuzzled next to his neck, body pressed closely alongside his, her hand resting tenderly on his chest- Sakura was absolutely dumbfounded at the situation. Her mouth gaped open in complete shock as she stared up at Sasuke's face only centimeters away from hers.

Sasuke was in a deep and comfortable sleep, Sakura had never had the chance to see grown Sasuke so close in such a relaxed state. She could see spots of his cheek where few stubbles of hair were shaved off cleanly. A million thoughts raced through her mind as she laid there in disbelief.

She suspended all forms of shock and just admired Sasuke's peaceful face. Surely, he would wake up at any moment to see what sort of strange predicament they accidently landed into and be as shocked as her, obviously. She had to savor this strange moment, it was once in a lifetime.

She examined every detail in his face for minutes as she laid her head on his shoulder. Her senses rejoiced in the overwhelming aroma of Sasuke's skin. She was in pure bliss. A euphoric smile was plastered across her face and she couldn't remember a happier moment in her whole life.

She looked down at her hand to notice it was lying on Sasuke's bare chest. His muscles had definitely gotten bigger since they were kids. Her mind wandered even further as her eyes ran down his abdomen to a finely detailed "v" line that ended at the white blankets covering his lower body. She stared at the white sheets, covering both Sakura and Sasuke's hips and legs collectively. Sakura could feel that she was in her favorite lace thong underwear and wearing only thin short tank top for sleep. Her bare legs were in between his bare legs underneath the white sheets, but she couldn't sense what Sasuke was wearing underneath the sheet.

Her eyes shot up to his face, worrying. As though he could read her intrusive thoughts and suddenly awaken.

Sasuke continued to slumber undisturbed as Sakura's face transitioned into a pink blush. It came to her attention that the covers were low enough that it should have revealed if Sasuke had been wearing briefs or boxers, but there was nothing other than his well-defined V cut muscles at his lower hips. Her heart began to immediately race and she looked around the room in panic.

'What should I do' she thought to herself.

'Wait. How is this happening. What happened?! Did we have sex!?' her thoughts raced continuously, 'did I drink too much? No. I don't remember drinking. What _is_ my last memory?'.

She looked up at Sasuke's sleeping face and fumbled trying to rationalize the situation.

'Think Sakura! There's no way in hell I fell asleep with Uchiha Sasuke and _forgot_ about it.'

'retrace your steps Sakura. Why are there so many missing pieces to my memory? I last remember,…I was with Kakashi. I was running in a cemetery? Yes! YES! I remember the cemetery- that's when I met Sasuke. It's so foggy after that, it's almost as though I just awoke here immediately aft-'her thoughts stopped as she figured it out. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head as she decided that she must be in Sasuke's genjitsu.

'Idiot. Of course, this is a dream' she told herself while mentally slapping herself on the forehead. She paused to watch Sasuke sleep as the realization overcame her. She slowly began focusing in on his lips.

'well..', she thought to herself, 'theres only one way to prove if it's really a genjitsu or not' as a devilish grin appeared across her face. She glanced down at her hand on Sasuke's chest and slowly began to slide it down his chest very gingerly. She took in the detail of every inch of his skin as she traced her way down, past his umbilicus, lingering around his hips and reaching for the sheets. Sakura bit her lower lip, peering down, as she decided to carefully lift up the sheets. The suspense was killing her. Her focus was intense and her gaze was locked.

She was suddenly startled when a strong hand quickly caught hers in the middle of the act.

A high pitched "MEEP" squeaked out of her lips as she locked up in shock. She immediately looked up at Sasuke's face, which was turned to hers, his eyes were wide open and focused on hers. The chills raced down Sakura's spine and a warm flush spread throughout her whole body. They laid there staring at each other without saying a word, clearly understanding Sakura had just been caught. Sakura was mentally screaming like she was being tortured by his silence. Sakura tried to think of something to excuse herself as her hands were still clutching the bed sheets wrapped around his lower abdomen.

'oh my fucking god this isn't a genjitsu' she cursed at herself.

"What exactly were you planning to do after that?" Sasuke asked, peering down at her with his usual dark seductive eyes. Sakura's big green eyes scanned his face over and over, they were that of a frantic puppies' eyes and her face was scarlet with blush. She remained speechless as she tried to understand Sasuke's words. She jumbled around worlds to try to construe some type of logical explanation.

Locking eyes on her, he took his hand and shifted it to take a firm grip around her wrist. She released the white sheet. He got up and turned toward her, taking her hand up to the pillow next to her head. He pressed his weight on it as he turned to tower over her. Sasuke took her other wrist and pressed it next to her head. Sakura gave no resistance and simply fixated on his face in pure surprise. The rays of the morning rays highlighted Sasuke's toned chest and arms, Sakura had to gaze at his body in awe as she was being pinned down by his arms.

Sasuke lowered his face for his mouth to be inches away from hers, his eyes powerfully seductive as he studied her shock. He didn't even try to hide his grin, or how much he was enjoying her disbelief.

"Do you want to know what I would do after that?" he whispered to her as his lips grazed hers with his words.

The smallest moan escaped Sakura's lips in the form of a whimper. This was far too much for Sakura, she was ready to pass out or be killed. This was the highlight of her entire life and if she was going to die, she should at least enjoy the moment she thought to herself. Might as well go all out...

She looked up at him smoldering over her and decided to just got for it. She drew all the strength in her gut and reached her face up to meet his lips lingering over hers. They brushed against each other, gently he returned a slow and very sensual kiss. She pulled out of the kiss to look up at his eyes, trying to gaze at his reaction. His eyes conveyed a sense of allure she had never seen before.

A devilish grin appeared from him as he bit his lips in temptation. He stopped to admire her from above.

There was a minor noise that appeared from the corner of the room, but Sakura was so fixated that she couldn't look away.

A smile overcame Sasuke as he pressed the weight of his hip onto hers underneath the cover. Sakura gasped and Sasuke sunk over her, meeting his lips to her mouth passionately. His grip on her wrists tightened as she let out a small moan in between gasps of air. He ran his lips along her neck and started nuzzling at her as he began to slowly sway his hips into hers.

In that moment of pure uninhibited euphoria and bliss, she tilted her head back. Hearing a sharp cough, Sakura opening her eyes to surprisingly see a figure lurking next to the window in the corner of the room.

Sakura yelled in shock to see it was Kakashi! Covering his face and looking at her with his Sharingan activated between his open fingers.

"KAI!" he shouted as everything around her began to black out. She suddenly felt as if she was falling into a black abyss. The bedroom, Sasuke and her surroundings began to disappear.

-She shot up from her sitting position and tried to catch herself- swinging her arms like crazy. She looked around the room to see she currently was in the bed and breakfast, surrounded by Kakashi and Yuki.

Kakashi was turned to the wall bent over, covering his eyes with his hands. Yuki stood next to a frantic Sakura who was sitting up in the bed frantically screaming. It was late afternoon and the room was exactly the way she had left it the night before. Yuki tried calming Sakura down as she stirred about in confusion.

"What happened!? Where am I!?" Sakura shouted in disbelief. Yuki held her hand and petted her head like a child.

"Princess Sakura, I know this is hard to understand, but you were stuck in a genjitsu. We saved you! It wasn't real" he smiled at her, feeling mighty accomplished in himself. He stood next to a few books and two opened scrolls. It seems they had brought objects back from the museum, including some texts.

Sakura frowned, **"you could've just let me die there"** she screamed.

"…wait, what?" responded Yuki in confusion. He was sure Sakura would have crowned him a hero for figuring out which Genjitsu she was stuck in and how to break it.

"You're welcome. We found your body lying in the cemetery and carried you back to the bed and breakfast. We just thought you passed out from energy depletion. It wasn't until you didn't wake up in the morning that we began to notice something was wrong. _I_ was the one that suggested you were probably in a genjitsu! Yeah. You're welco-" Yuki boasted before being met by the strong hands of Sakura around his neck.

Sakura wrung his neck out like a turkey in thanksgiving. While Kakashi remained in the corner crying about a million unholy things he would need to do to try to unsee what he had just witnessed.

"Goddamit! Stop it Sakura! Leave him alone! We thought you were being tortured in the Genjitsu!" said Kakashi with his back to Sakura as he continued to rub his eyes.

"OH MY GOD!" he screamed when he opened his eyes to see Sakura.

"Do you know what I had to do!? Do you know much alcohol I'm going to need to sear that imagine out of my brain?" Kakashi shouted to himself.

"you don't even DRINK alcohol Kakashi Sensei! What are you complaining about?!" she shouted as she jumped up onto the bed.

"WELL I DO NOW!" Kakashi yelled back.

There was a rapping on the door from a concerned waiter. "umm,.. excuse me? is everything alright?"... they politely asked from behind the door. Yuki ran over to the door and tried to persuade the staff that everything was alright despite all the yelling.

"You're just a child Sakura! You two are my kids! WHAT THE HELL!" shouted back Kakashi pulling his hair, trying to hold back the tears.

"I DIDN'T DETERMINE WHAT WAS IN THE GENJITSU! ITS NOT ME WHO THE PERVERT IS! HOW COME YOU DIDN'T SPEAK UP BEFORE ALL THAT STARTED HAPPENING HUH? YOU'RE THE PERVERT!" Sakura screamed out, angrily probing Kakashi with her finger to his chest.

Yuki nodded to the crowd of staff that now were accumulating in the hallway in total confusion.

He walked out of the room and close the door behind him.

"Their long lost father and daughter, this is just how they get re-acquainted" he chuckled "you know, family..."

In the background a loud bang could be heard as well as the screams of Sakura, "I KNEW IT! PERVERT!".

Sakura as she continued arguing with Kakashi. As everyone dispersed from the hallway with disgust on their faces, Yuki decided to return to his room in quiet confusion of what had just occurred. He needed a full night's rest as tomorrow Kakashi, Sakura and him were about to embark on the real mission.

Kakashi and Yuki had decided they would board the early boat to the land of the sound, to find Kuroma Shichiro.

Kuroma was the kingpin who was the highest bidder in the auction. There were no reports to suggest he was at the auction other than the witness testimony by the late Yamatoru, who Sakura had interrogated in front of Kakashi before his sudden death. Yuki was sure that Kakashi would be able to explain the details to Sakura later.

With that, Yuki tucked himself into bed with the lullaby of objects being thrown across the room next door his as the muffled screams between the two could be heard.

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This chapter was ridiculously fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Please leave me a comment if you did!  
The more comments I get the faster I will write the next chapter for you guys~ hahaha. Peace!


	9. Chapter 9

It had been two days since her encounter with Uchiha Sasuke, and it has not been easy for Sakura to focus on much else despite her best efforts. It also hasn't helped that Kakashi wouldn't look her in the eyes since he 'saved' her from Sasuke's genjitsu. He had been acting so awkward, like a father who had walked in on his daughter in the act. Sakura decided to give him as much space as possible for the remainder of the trip back to the main continents. They would resume the mission upon docking at the harbor and sending Yuki off to Konoha with a transporter, as agreed. It would be about a 5 day journey to the Land of the Sound alone with Kakashi. Sakura was already cringing in consideration of the awkward fireside dinners and quiet treetop jogging with Kakashi. She hoped the fresh air of this boat ride would clear their minds and return them both to normal before the journey started. She took this opportunity to walk around the main deck of the ship and admire the sunset.

With five hours to spare, Sakura spent a lot of time quietly people watching. She sat down on a bench overlooking the majority of the starboard ship deck. Quietly daydreaming of what her life would be like if she weren't a ninja. If she were just like everyone else, would she be as happy as the people passing her by on this ship? Sakura couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the thought of her in an apron cooking food and dotting on children. If Sasuke were to hear this thought of hers, undoubtedly his response would be a chuckle followed by a grin, then something along the lines of the words "pathetic". She would agree, it really wasn't the life set out for her anymore.

Maybe in the past, when she was smaller she had these similar dreams as everyone else. Now she knew she was meant for the stuff of legends. Honestly, she knew this feeling wasn't always there. She would not believe such things to be true if it wasn't for Uchiha Sasuke. He was the first one who believed in her.

A girl with no pedigree in the ninja lineage, with no natural attributes favoring her chakra or bloodline techniques to her advantage. A girl, cursed with the strain of hard work just to be playing with toys and magic that is beyond the path she was born into. To get to where she is now, she had to study and work harder than others. She would never submit to the simplicities of a normal life that her mother demanded of her.

Sasuke expects more from her than to give up and live a normal life, he sees in her what she couldn't even see in herself. Now that he has shown this to her, she is set on her new destiny. He made her believe she was capable of a destiny greater than she could have ever imagined.

How could Sakura ever forget that person who most believed in her?

How could she lose faith in him?

Didn't he have the chance to kill her on her last meeting? Didn't he at least have the chance to torture her in his genjitsu? What was the meaning of all…that?

Sakura pulled at her hair while she sat on the bench, frustrated from turning over the same questions in her head over and over again.

She stared out at the cloudy skies as the last rays of the setting sun shone through it. The warm colors of the sky were now fading fast to the dark blues of the night. A chill ran through her spine as a cold breeze came over her. She peered up at the moon, beginning to make itself known in the distance. She noted a ship in the distance as well, it seemed to appear almost out of nowhere. Curiously, she had remembered it was mentioned many times that this was the last ship out the harbor back to the main lands. She must be rusty on her understandings of aquatic laws, 'another book to re-study up on when I get back home' she thought to herself. Stood up from her bench and decided to return to the waiting quarters where Kakashi and Yuki were. She began walking slowly back below deck before taking one last admiring look at the beautiful horizon. Little did she know, it would be the last sunset of her ordinary ninja life.

Upon arriving to their private seating area Sakura sees Kakashi asleep in the seat against the window and Yuki next to him unraveling boxes. This private little room only had space for two rows of seats facing a window overlooking the ocean. The storage compartments above the seats were full of cardboard moving boxes lined with red and blue tape. Yuki had forced Sakura and Kakashi to help him pack his things before his big move to Konoha. Sakura was slightly irritated to see him undoing all the packing they had worked hard on earlier today. They barely made the last boat ride over to the main lands because it took so long. Sakura approached Yuki cautiously, he seemed very focused.

"It sure took us a while to pack all your stuff from the museum in these boxes Yuki, did you miss something?" Sakura asked politely.

Yuki was frazzled, he looked up at Sakura a bit shocked to see her. "Sakura! Welcome back. I am looking for something important that should've been in one of these boxes. I can't leave to Konoha without it!" he told her.

"Well, let me help you look." she said as she sat on the seat across to Yuki facing him. "What does it look-" she began saying as she peered into the box he was rummaging through.

"No!" Yuki shouted, pulling the box away from her and hugging his box protectively.

Sakura got startled.

Kakashi slightly opened his eye to observe the encounter.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know you wanted privacy in the matter." she said as she rubbed her neck in embarrassment.

A silence fell upon the small room.

"I'm sorry," Yuki apologized, "I just want to make sure I find because it is very personal to me."

Sakura nodded slowly. Yuki stared at her intently and Sakura got a chill down her spine.

"There's four more boxes that we gave to the crew for them to stow away in the cargo room...they wouldn't fit here" Sakura mentioned.

Yuki looked relieved. " I wish you would have told me soon. Where is the cargo room?" he commented as he stood up and putting the box he was holding into the overhead storage space.

Sakura pointed out the door, "if you go down the flight of stairs on the end of the hall to your right, three floors down is going to be a long hallway. The second door to your right is the cargo room. Just give them our room number" Sakura said with a modest smile.

Yuki thanked her and left to the cargo room, giving a quick glances at his boxes before closing the door.

Sakura paused to listen to Yuki's footsteps, ensuring he was far enough away. She glanced over at Kakashi, who was already sitting up in his seat looking at Sakura.

"You caught that too right?" Sakura says quietly as she stands up to remove the box from the overhead storage.

"Very clever distraction Sakura. What do you think he is going to do when he figures out we didn't put any boxes in the cargo room?" Kakashi said as he stood up to help her look through the boxes.

"There is no cargo room Kakashi." Sakura said moving folders and objects around in the box she pulled out, "we have to hurry".

Kakashi rummaged through the biggest box and Sakura was almost done digging through the one Yuki had been holding earlier. She looked around frantically to see which box might carry something of importance. She remembers packing most of the boxes with red tape on the side, there wasn't anything suspicious in them from what she can remember. However, there was a box in the far corner with no tape around it at all, Yuki must have packed that one. She rushes over to it and lifts it up, noting how much heavier it is from all the other boxes.

Kakashi looks over at Sakura and helps her carry the box to the floor. They open it to find it full of old relics and objects in fine silk and leather satchels. Sakura leans over and picks up one of the silk bags. It was heavy, and around the size of her palm. She removes the object out of the satchel to find it is a giant deep blue gem surrounded by a gold crest. The detailing and writing in gold around the gem showed a large dragon encircling the crest. It held writing from an ancient time, and across the side 'Protector to the Land of Water' was written formally around the gem.

Sakura was mesmerized by the giant gem, it looked like a deep blue ocean when you stared into it.

"Looks important" Kakashi looked over at Sakura admiring the gem.

Sakura agreed and glanced back at Kakashi who continued rummaging through the box- pulling out a holographic glass box that appeared shattered but retained its square like shape.

Sakura froze for a moment when she saw the glass box. Kakashi looked it over for a moment and returned it back into the storage box to keep searching for anything that looked important.

Sakura gave the gem to Kakashi and reached back into the storage box to get the glass box he just returned.

Kakashi was puzzled at what interested Sakura so much about the glass box, it was roughly the size of a baseball holder and was rather lightweight- it appeared broken and hollow. Sakura slowly held it up to the lamp illuminating the room.

The light ran through the shattered box and illuminated words across the entire room, like a projector. Kakashi looked around the room as it was distorted in colors and words posed along everything.

"What is that Sakura?" he asked.

"It's something they call a lovers jewelry box" Sakura said slowly as she tried to read the words on the wall. "In ancient times, secret lovers would give each other love letters in these boxes. Posing as broken jewelry boxes so that their spouses would not get suspicious" she continued.

"It is actually a puzzle box, the poem on the wall illuminated by the light is jumbled up because the broken pieces of jewelry box aren't aligned. Once you figure out the poem and align it accordingly, it should open" Sakura said almost to herself as she considered the poem on the wall.

Kakashi was satisfied with the object Sakura had found and placed the heavy blue gem in the box. "You think there is something in there Yuki doesn't want anyone to find and doesn't think that anyone would know how to open?" Kakashi asked swiftly.

Without missing a beat Sakura answered, "Bingo!".

Yuki's footsteps could be heard coming from down the hall. Sakura quickly pocketed the glass box into her back satchel and Kakashi closed the storage box, placing it back to the top of the shelf.

Yuki entered the room to find Kakashi asleep as he had left him and Sakura lying down across from Kakashi with her face to the wall. Yuki scanned the room for any objects out of place. He seemed confident that nothing had happened in the few moments he was gone. Irritated his search turned up to lead him across the ship with no sign of a cargo room, he decided he would ask Sakura when she woke up. He walked over and reached for another red tape box, quietly setting it on his lap as he tried not to disturb the others' slumber.

After an hour of listening to Yuki jumble through box after box, he relentlessly continued searching. Sakura hoped he hadn't noticed the jewelry box missing, but was too enticed by her tiredness to remain awake listening to Yuki's shuffling. She dozed off into a sweet dream of being back into her normal life.

She had just got a raise and was heading to her favorite restaurant to go drinking with her best friends. The table was already set with food and lots of drinks. Miki and Sageki welcomed Sakura and Sageki kindly put his hand on her waist and led her to sit next to him. Naruto, Hinata, Shino and Ino appeared not to long after to join them. Miki was giving a toast to congratulate Sakura once drinks were already well set in and jokes were made at each others expense. Sakura smiled a bright red blush and thanked everyone. Everyone toasted and Sakura felt a hand slide caressingly up her back. Sageki grabbed Sakura's hand and she looked over at him. He leaned in and kissed her passionately in front of everyone. The look of shock on everyone's face was apparent and silence fell on the room. Her alarm was so great that she pushed him away and leaned back, questioning his actions immediately. His raven black hair highlighted the innocently loving blue in his eyes. Without saying a word Sageki placed the holographic glass box in her hands, then looked deep into her eyes. Leaning into her he whispers,

"They stand in black and white

As the moon and the star lit sky

Amongst the oblivious

Harmoniously bowing to each other

Unspoken words filling the air

For whispers can't be spoken without a care

Loving eyes just stare

What joy love brings

What hurt it sings

To be as lonely as the pale moon

Watching the reflection of the stars on the sea

They call themselves secret lovers

For no one knows

How the story goes"

Sakura froze. She stared at Sageki's blue eyes as he waited for her to understand the meaning. He bit his lip in irritation, "START RUNNING" he screamed at her.

Startled, Sakura awoke from her strange dream to find herself being tossed against the wall of the seating room she was sleeping in.

A large explosion had ripped open the window of the small room into pieces. Kakashi and Yuki were nowhere to be found in the now mangled room covered in smoke and bits of debri everywhere. Sakura took a deep breath of shock and ran for the door of the room, she kicked it open and flew out into the hallway. Sprinting to get to the deck of the boat, she dogged around the screaming civilians as they scattered in panic. She could hear the sound of electricity being generated, and explosions in the distance.

Upon arriving to the deck of the ship, the crowds of civilians had gathered under the night sky. She yelled out for Kakashi or Yuki but the screams of panic filled the air and made it hard for Sakura to hear anything. She ran to a large funnel and began sprinting up the side of it to find a better view.

Sakura peered around the entirety of the ship, she couldn't find a single trace of an attacker. Kakashi and Yuki were also nowhere to be seen and panic set into her stomach. With hysteria occuring down below her, Sakura sat in contemplation along the funnel while analyzing the situation.

Had Yuki set off a bomb or something? Why would he drown everyone and everything he was protecting? That didn't make sense. She could feel the tilt of the ship now, it was unnervingly leaning toward the side that had been exploded. Sakura leaped off the funnel to witness the damage along the starboard flank of the ship. She reached the railing and leaning over, she witnessed a three large holes. Still ablaze with flames and smoke, the holes were filling with water at an alarming rate. The ship is sinking now at a fast rate.

Sakura rolled her eyes for a moment to acknowledge how unlucky she has always been in life, of course this would happen. In the middle of nowhere in the ocean at night, with no other ships around for miles!

It sank in her, the memory of sunset, when she spotted a ship in the horizon. She looked around the edges of the ocean as far as the eye could see for a sign of the ship being close by. Nothing with the naked eye could be seen, it was far too dark.

She instead decided to run to the captains post and get information on the situation of any rescue boats or other chances of surviving this.

Sakura ran to the second floor railing and leaped over it. Making a mad dash to the Captain's Post- she came across Kakashi running in the opposite direction.

She paused and turned over to Kakashi as she past him.

"Kakashi-sensei! What happened!" she asked with distress in her voice.

"The engine was shot, half the crew is dead. I didn't see the attacker but I heard the sound of electricity shot at us. Yuki is safe in the captain's post but no one is responding to the S.O.S calls. Apparently, no other ship is supposed to be out this late at night. So we're stuck", Kakashi reported to Sakura.

Disbelief struck her face as she looked around taking in the information. They both stood there in contemplation of what to do, the panic in the air was crushing.

"There was another ship here next to us. I saw it before I went to the room with you and Yuki. I can't see it now though." Sakura mentioned to Kakashi.

"Are you sure it was here?" Kakashi asked with uncertainty.

"Why don't you try to see if you can see it using your Sharingan to find it in the dark. I know I saw it. Maybe we can run atop of the water to it and ask for help" Sakura suggested as she pointed to the top of a nearby funnel.

Kakashi nodded and they both darted toward the funnel. They knew they didn't have much time before the boat sank and any idea was better than nothing.

Sakura stood next to Kakashi atop of the highest funnel, overlooking the ocean. Looking out into the ocean was almost like looking deep into a dark black hole, a never ending void of nonexistence. Kakashi activated his bright red sharingan and peered out into the void. Sakura watched his eyes pace back and forth trying to find a hint of anything.

Watching the red sharingan reminded Sakura of Sasuke's eyes. She faded into memories of battling alongside Sasuke. His young face, quick eyes assessing a million outcomes, cunning and sharp- even in the midst of battle. How she takes for granted being so accustomed to seeing those eyes when she was younger. His new eyes were now like a strangers eyes to her. Do they still hold her in the same regard? How do they see her now, do they also look back and see a stranger? She paused and fazed back into reality, Kakashi was pointing out to the west and shouting something to her. Totally inaudible as her hearing slowly started to return to her.

"What" Sakura asked in a daze.

"Sakura, you have to stay focused. Don't do that again, every moment is important now" Kakashi sharped scolded her.

"I'm sorry," she said shaking her head, "you're right sensei. What do we do?"

"You were right. There _is_ a ship. It's about three nautical miles from here,

"If we run, we can make it. We can save everyone on this ship. We have to hurry" Sakura blurted out as she was about to jump down and begin the sprint to the neighboring ship. Kakashi grabbed her arm quickly before she jumped and turned her to face him.

"What if that's the ship that attacked us? Why else wouldn't they show up on the radar?" Kakashi asked.

"Didn't you say the captain mentioned it was illegal to be out this late at night? We might be a Land of Water certified cargo ship, but that might just be a private ship that doesn't want to get caught out at night" Sakura mentioned.

"What are they doing that they won't want to get caught late at night?" Kakashi added, "we can't go blindly running into these situations without consideration of the risk".

"Well, all these people are at risk right now. If we don't act fast and think on our feet- all these people are going to die, and maybe even us" Sakura debated. Kakashi took a second and admired Sakura for a moment.

"Proud of you" he said as he let go of her arm. She grinned and back flipped off the ledge of the funnel.


	10. Chapter 10

It was quite unnerving to be running along the black waves of the ocean into a dark abyss. Sakura looked back at the sinking ship which was just a twinkle in the darkness now from the distance they had covered. If she had any fear, she showed none of it, continuing her run as fast as her legs would carry her along-side Kakashi. The cold air would whip her hair and the waves would splash the ice-cold water into her face, but she continued unfazed.

They were finally reaching a dim golden light along the sea bed. It was the ship from earlier before. It had the makings of a large expensive yacht, with golden lanterns and mood lighting along the top of it. As they got closer to it, Sakura could see she underestimated the magnitude of the yacht. It was easily four stories tall, painted matte black and golden writing along the side of it naming it 'the duchess'.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi as they came up to the side of the ship, "I don't think this is the ship that attacked us. It's probably some cruise ship that got lost" Sakura guessed. Kakashi sighed, "that never seems to be our luck, Sakura. Although I hope it is" Kakashi said as he gave the go ahead to run up the side of the boat to board the main deck.

Poking their heads over the edge of the deck, they looked around. The boat was of the highest quality, gold trimming, modern wooden furnishings, black beams and white cushioning. There was a net of outdoor lighting hanging from beam to beam. Long wooden seating areas and plant like decorations. Sakura had never seen such luxury before.

Neither her or Kakashi could spot anyone on the deck. They gave each other a quick nod in agreement to jumped over the railing, boarding the deck.

"See Kakashi? Easy. Now we just go to the captain and warn him nicely" Sakura said and she reached a doorway to enter in a large structure where the main captain's chamber should be.

"Don't let your guard-" Kakashi began saying until Sakura swung open the door and took a step in only to suddenly stop at the sight of what was inside. The large room consisted of a crowd of drunk men tending to their own injuries and passing bottles around a large luxurious bar. Each of them looked tougher than the other and they all paused to look at a frozen Sakura at the entryway. Various weapons were scattered along the room and each of the men silently grabbed their weapons as they rose to confront the intruders.

Sakura looked behind her at Kakashi, who also was being surrounded with armed men behind him.

"You were saying something about 'easy'?" Kakashi remarked to Sakura.

"Don't fight them Kakashi, I don't even almost know how to steer a ship. I'm sure that they'll just hear us out" Sakura told Kakashi as she turned to the men and began releasing a perfume of seductive chakra to help her charisma.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the captain's chamber, Nomura Ike was sulking on his giant desk. A large whiskey bottle next to him to drown out his recent losses. His strategy to keep face among his enemies was leading nowhere, soon they would all know the major loss he had suffered at the hands of the Akatsuki during the auction for the pearl, his reign would soon end as a leading boss of the underworld. His sail back home to the land of sound was a miserable one, surely he would be getting assassinated within the month, putting an end to his suffering.

A long reign of 20 years as a leading weapons and gambling kingpin in the wild streets of the city of sound would have to be a sufficient legacy to leave his children. He looked out past the window in his large room overseeing the deck of the ship, "Oh god. I don't even _have_ any children..." he told himself with sudden realization. He poured himself another glass of whiskey and shot it down his throat with haste. He was going to die alone as the dark and evil mobster he was, the web he weaved was a lonely one. He continued his self sorrow until he heard footsteps approaching.

There was suddenly a sharp rapping on his door.

"GO away" he shouted. The rapping continued.

"GO AWAY" he repeated.

Nomura got up from his table with an toss of his seat and walked over to the door with a strong attitude of distaste. He was a tall man with a heavy set build, wavy black hair that was a bit grown out. His beard was scruffy and his skin was dark. He currently wore a black yukata that exposed his slightly hairy chest.

He opened the door as the rapping continued and was prepared to destroy the person on the other side of the door- however, as he swung the door open he looked down to see it was nothing other than an adorable little pink haired girl. He inhaled his rage and tucked it away for a moment.

Behind the girl was the fleet of his men and a white haired man being held at knifepoint. It was quite the sight to see.

The girl walked up to him sweetly and looked up, meeting his eyes with her big green ones. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I am boarding your ship with request to save our drowning cargo ship about 3 nautical miles west of here," She said with adorable authority. Nomura hadn't heard such a small girl speak to him in such a manner in his life. She was visually appealing and even had a strong aroma of flowers eluding from her. The background around her would blur out and her eyes would only become more and more entrancing.

Nomura paused at her words, "Well then, let us talk. Please, come in" He opened the door further for her and let her inside, "Call me, Ike."

The crewmates had been trembling prior to opening the door for Sakura. Now they stood completely floored as Sakura entered the room calmly and willingly. They were sure the rage of the boss would swallow up the two intruders and get them killed within minutes. He was known to be a tyrant. The crewmembers each stared at each other in complete disbelief as the door closed on them. Kakashi used his finger to guide one of the many knifes away from his face slowly as the men stood in shock at the situation that just unfolded at the captain's door.

* * *

"How did a pretty little thing like you get this far into the ocean to call for help?" Nomura asked politely, leading Sakura to the large couch at the end of the room. Sakura sat at the corner of the couch and began pleading for aid, "We escaped on a life raft, I had thought I had seen your ship earlier during sunset and we set out to look for your help".

"That was bold of such a tiny little thing like you to do" Nomura said with a grin sitting closely next to her and placing his arm around the head of the couch behind Sakura's head.

"There are about 400 people on that boat right now and its sinking, we were attacked by some unknown thing, blowing three large holes around the side of the ship. It wouldn't be uncommon to hear of pirates or large animals doing such a thing- but nothing has struck us since the initial attack. I assure you it is safe. If you turn your boat around, we could save all the passengers and you would be considered a hero!" Sakura pleaded.

Nomura leaned in closer to her, "I hear what you say, Ms. Haruno, have you ever heard of me?" he smiled. Sakura shook her head in confusion. "Nomura Ike, the lord of deals" he smiled at her.

Sakura gave a slight head turn and tried to withhold an unpleasant smile, already understanding where this was leading to.

"I am willing to work a deal with you, because you are the most beautiful thing I have seen on this green earth. But like all deals, what do _I_ get out of this deal?" Nomura enticed as he began playing with Sakura's hair.

Sakura felt like she would puke at any moment, the man's breath smelled like old whiskey and his clothes needed to be desperately washed. The fact he would even be this close to her was enough reason for her to put her foot through his face. She decided to significantly tone down the amount of seduction chakra she was putting out. If things got more out of hand she wasn't sure she had the strength to hold herself back from critically injuring this man.

"I can heal your men! I am a skilled nurse and I noticed all your men are in terrible condition from a recent fight. I can promise you that they will be healed thoroughly." Sakura said confidently. But Nomura did not seem impressed, his large hand grazed Sakura's shin in a caressing manner.

"Cargo!" Sakura shouted out, "there is precious cargo on that ship that you can have and sell for money" Sakura barked at him. He continued to lean in closer to her and she had to think of something that would stop him in his tracks. She looked around the room and saw various old art pieces and artifacts on display shelves.

"Artifacts. I have artifacts from the museum of the land of water prior to it being raided a few days ago!" she blurted out in negotiation.

Nothing paused Nomura more than that sentence. He sat up on the couch and looked at her in disbelief.

"Show me proof. If you're telling the truth then it might be worth the deal" Nomura stared down at her with his high stature. Sakura looked to the corner of the room in contemplation and realized she still had the glass jewelry box in her pouch. She put her finger up, asking Nomura to pause. She took out the holographic jewelry box and handed it to Nomura.

"This is an old box that holds an ancient riddle. It belonged to the museum." Sakura stated. Sakura held it up to a lamp near the end table of the couch. The box projected ancient writings across the room with amazing colors as it was held up to the light. She retracted it, pleased with Nomura's surprised reaction. She handed it over to him.

Nomura looked over the object, impressed with it. He then considered Sakura with concern.

"Why do you have this in your possession?" he said skeptically. Sakura smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. She had to think of a lie pretty quickly, but decided that something near the truth might just work out. Especially from a man who enjoyed 'deals'.

"I am trading this artifact and many more stolen to a lord from the land of sound, his name is Kuroma Shiichiro. In return for his protection from the rebel group in the land of water— which stole these artifacts from." Sakura explained with her hands neatly folded in her lap. She caught on to Nomura's eyes- they lit up when she mentioned the name of Kuroma.

"Has the lord of deals ever heard of him before?" Sakura asked Nomura, jokingly. Sakura grinned, knowing the answer in his response.

Nomura looked down at the glass box.

"If you heal my men, grant me all the objects from the museum you have with you and come stay with me in the land of sound- I will save the passengers on your cargo ship" Nomura promised to Sakura without looking up at her. Sakura understood this was a losing deal but didn't plan on complying, she simply had to get the people to safety first.

"Deal," she said as she shot up from the couch. Relieved to get the chance to escape from him.

"So long as you swear that you will hurry to save the cargo ship right away. We have to hurry" Sakura sternly pleaded. Nomura stood up, towering over Sakura and placed his hand on her head.

"Deal", he grinned down at her and walked over to alert his crew members.

* * *

Two long twos had passed. Sakura stood next to Kakshi along the railing of the black duchess watching the sinking cargo ship in front of them fade away under the ocean. It took all of the remaining energy Kakashi and Sakura had to get everyone to evacuate into the large black ship. All the energy was drained out of Sakura already.

"You did it" Kakashi said with a warm smile as he stood next to her, "you saved everyone on the cargo ship and even got us a free ride to the land of sound. Best of all no one had to be killed". Sakura giggled to herself, "I almost had to kill that captain for being too much".

Kakashi looked over at her wicked little giggle for a moment and admired her, "maybe you just underestimate how strong your seduction technique is sometimes, Sakura".

Kakashi stared off into the distance, "you know, if Tsunade had asked me whether it was the right choice to teach you seduction jitsu- I would have never answered yes." Sakura was shocked for such a confession, she looked over at Kakashi who continued to stare out into the void of the night.

"It's okay to admit when you're wrong sometimes. Maybe my emotions got in the way of it too much. You are not a little girl anymore. I'm kind of glad she did it behind my back, or else I would've prevented it and this night would have ended very differently."

They shared a long warm pause.

Sakura smiled and looked out into the void of the night with happiness.

"What a strange praise " she whispered aloud to herself.


	11. Chapter 11

You punks better be leaving reviews if you like the story.

Many more Chapters to come, we're just setting the ball up for it to get good- trust me, its gunna get juicy. Dark Uchiha included.

/ Leave a review. tell me what you hate and like \

v(๑•з•)))⋆* *⋆ฺ=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞

* * *

The sun had risen and its beams were blinding Kakashi as he awoke in a corner near a large window. The room was crowded with people sleeping on the floor, it was such a long night. Kakashi stood up slowly, began walking around all the sleeping people on the floor. He made his way over to the stairs that lead to the high deck. He passed the large black doors at the end of the stairs and beheld a beautiful sunrise on a cloudy morning. There was land in front of him and morning fog that rolls out of the forest of pine trees up ahead. The sun emerged from the fog vividly and the view took Kakashi aback.

He looked down past the boat and saw that they were barely just docking the ship at a small harbor. This was not the normal docks the cargo ship had originally planned to dock into, he quickly noticed. The boat ride was almost twice as long as expected. Had they kept the same route they should have arrived to the dock nearest to Konoha before sunrise, leading Kakashi to believe they landed farther up north. Kakashi wasn't sure where they ended up but the promise of land was enough to at least ensure everyone's safety. The transporter sent to the docks nearest Konoha was going to be quite shocked to discover that the ship never made it to port. Kakashi snickered at the thought of showing up in Konoha after the report that of his death is sent out. He supposed Tsunade would throw a fit to hear Sakura had been lost on the boat as well, he wished he could be there to witness the tantrum.

He hadn't seen Sakura most of the night, but heard she was off tending to the crewmen somewhere down below deck. Kakashi rubs his stiff neck and recollects how he spent the night sleeping in a stiff corner, a whining Yuki was blaring off into a hate speech about Sakura 'donating away' his stuff. Kakashi never interjected him, but only listened to the voices of strangers that spoke so highly of her. Each of whom had profusely thanked Sakura as she passed by and offered tea to the passengers after boarding the ship in the dead of the night.

Kakashi decided to go look for Sakura and let her know that they were getting ready to let everyone off the ship onto the docks now. The long journey had finally ended and they would soon have to track their way back to Konoha as Yuki's transporter.

After searching through all the rooms in the two floors filled with people, Kakashi finds his way down to the third floor where there was a large storage room filled with boxes and smaller cargo containers they saved from the wrecked ship. She was here using the medical supplies found in a salvaged shipping container to heal the crewmen. Kakashi found it suspicious, all the men had fresh wounds from a recent fight. It must have been a big fight.

Kakashi approached Sakura, surrounded by a crowd of men who were talking amongst each other and smiling. Sakura's back was turned to Kakashi and she was kneeled over tending to a man's bloody knee that seemed almost out of place. The green healing light reflected off the walls and faces of the men nearby.

Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder as she silently continued healing the knee of the crewmember sitting quietly. She turned her head to looked up at Kakashi, and he was almost struck with fear. Sakura looked like a zombie, dark bags underneath her eyes which were half opened, slow response and flat affect. Kakashi paused and bit his lips together trying to hold back his surprise.

"Sakura, we're docking. You can stop now, we got to get everyone off the ship in a moment" Kakashi reported to her. Sakura looked at him with glazed eyes. "Where is Yuki? I want to say goodbye before he leaves with the transporter. I have a gift for him, in apology" Sakura mumbled out gently.

Kakashi shook his head and helped Sakura sit on the floor next to him as he squatted down to her. "No Sakura, this isn't the dock where the transporter is supposed to pick up Yuki. We've landed in a dock somewhere further up north" Kakashi told her.

"oh no… I feel so bad for Yuki. I can't believe I was so,…suspicious of him. He just lost him home and now he is going to be left at the docks…. in the middle of nowhere?" Sakura closed her eyes and began to fade into sleep with a worried look on her face. She leaned to the side and the man she was healing aside from her caught her as she slowly began to make it to the floor.

"Shes so fatigued" the man said.

Kakashi sighed, "is there a bed we could find to put her on while everyone begins to unload the ship?" he asked the man assisting her.

"There is a sleeping chamber with many cots next to the captains main room. Hopefully there's an empty one available" he told Kakashi. Kakashi nodded in thanked to him. He picked up the unconscious Sakura bridal style, carrying her up to the sleeping quarters.

Sakura awoke to a nudging on her shoulder. She was on a small cot and it felt like sleeping on bricks. The fatigue had not lifted from her body and she lightly turned her head to peer over at whoever was waking her.

Kakashi and Yuki were standing side by side in front of her.

"Good morning! It's time to go" Kakashi prodded at her face with his finger. Sakura nodded in a slow daze. She sat up and hung her feet from the cot. She looked around and saw she was in a room full of empty cots and two people in the corner packing up belongings. Sakura looked over at Yuki who was looking down at the ground.

"Yuki! I'm glad you're here. Are you still upset with me for giving your boxes away?" Sakura asked with concern. Yuki nodded to the ground without looking up at her.

"I have a present for you," she said with a gentle smile as she reached around to get her weapon holding scroll from her pouch. She opened it up on her lap and unsealed the scroll, after a little poof, a quantity of weapons appeared on her lap. She reached past the swords and kunais to grab a blue silk bag. She kindly handed it over to Yuki.

"Here you go!" Sakura smiled, "I don't plan on letting them keep your stuff for long Yuki, I could only manage something small at the moment so please bare with me. I thought this would be the most significant thing I could gather".

Yuki opened up the blue silk bag to show the deep blue gem with the golden trimming, stating "the land of water" along the side. Yuki began almost tearing up as he silently held it in his hands.

"I know it might not seem like much, but I noticed all your other relics consisted of history from other countries. This is the only one you have of your own country, and I think that's very important. Even though you will become a Konoha citizen under our protection, its important that you never forget where you came from" Sakura said with a warm smile.

Yuki looked at the stone and looked up at Sakura with a tear forming in his eye.

"Thank you, Sakura, I thought I had lost it" he said relieved. Sakura stood up and Yuki gave her a hug.

"I'll bring the rest back to you soon okay?" she promised. "I put a letter with the address of a dear friend of mine, Miki. Please deliver that letter to her for me. She's the smartest person I know and I'm sure you will love to meet her. She could even help you continue some of your research that you were writing about". They parted from their hug and Yuki looked down at the note that also was placed inside the silk bag.

"Thank you. I'll take good care of it and make sure she gets it" Yuki smiled.

Kakashi looked up at the ceiling, he felt intrusive to be apart of such a tender moment.

"Let's get out of here then" said Kakashi. Sakura nodded and turned around to return all her weapons back into her pouch.

"Aren't you coming with us though Sakura? Why give me-" Yuki began but was suddenly interrupted.

They headed for the door together and upon reaching the hallway came upon a crowd of the crewmembers.

"Aren't you coming with us though Sakura? Why give me-" Yuki began but was suddenly interrupted.

"If it isn't our own doctor princess?" said one of the men loudly to them as the three of them entered the hallway. A younger one of the crew members ran out to Sakura to show her his arm, "Look princess! It's completely healed! It feels better than before, I can't believe it!" he smacked his forearm with his other hand to show how sturdy it was. Another man ran through to Sakura and pointed at his eye- "All my 10 years of migraines have stopped. I can see better than ever now too." Before any of them knew it, they were engulfed in a crowd of men wanting to thank Sakura for her healing and show her their old wounds. Kakashi and Yuki stepped back as the crowd began to get a bit out of hand and smothering.

A loud "OIYY" could be heard from down the corridor, it was none other than Nomura with three henchmen at his side. He towered over the other men in stature. He was suited well in a black on black suit with a golden rod in one hand. The crowd around Sakura turned to see their boss and immediately moved out of the way as he began to get closer to them.

"The coach awaits the 'princess' outside. Everyone get to your assigned vehicles so we can leave" he shouted at his men. They stood in unison and confirmed with Nomura before scattering.

Nomura stood there gazing at Sakura like she was a snack, it was disgusting for Yuki and Kakashi to stand and watch.

"We have to be going to Konoha, we are under-" Kakashi began but was interrupted by Sakura.

"I'm ready to go" she blurted out before Kakashi could blow her cover as a medical civilian in front of Nomura.

Kakashi and Yuki both gave a loud confused, "HUH?" together.

Sakura still needed the glass box and Nomura had it in his possession. Continuing the mission to the land of sound was also another way to avoid being scolded from Tsunade for coming back empty handed. She couldn't be sure Tsunade would let her leave again to chase Sageki. Most importantly, it got her closer to finding Sageki. She had no choice but to leave to the land of the sound alone.

"It was nice of you to offer to escort Yuki back home. That was about as pleasant of a trip as one could have hoped for" Sakura smiled, addressing Kakashi. "I am going on ahead to the land of the sound as promised to Mr. Ike Nomura and I _hope_ that if you are ever in the area you will come and search for us to say 'hi'" she continued with a grin.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and went along with Sakura's plan. He felt by now that he could trust her and she was worthy of handling the mission until he returned to help her continue it.

"Okay okay." Kakashi said to Sakura in defeat. Kakashi also calculated that Sakura was too fatigued to be traveling for the next three or four days to Konoha. He decided a little break for her in some millionaire's tower wouldn't hurt the mission as long as she was safe.

"Have a safe trip to the land of the sound, as for us, we will take about 3 days to get to Konoha from here" he continued after a long pause and a looked over at Nomura, "don't do anything reckless" he warned Sakura, keeping his eyes on Nomura. Sakura ignored the stare down between Kakashi and Nomura as she turned to Yuki.

"Bye Yuki! Don't forget what we talked about!" she said as she waved at him.

Nomura wrapped his large hand around Sakura's shoulder and began leading her out of the ship.

Kakashi and Yuki stood there in dead silence for a few moments.

"I feel like she enjoys putting herself in danger. Don't you get that feeling?" Yuki commented to Kakashi. Kakashi looked over at him with a deep nod.

"You have _no_ idea how far back that goes" Kakashi said to him with a sigh. They walked down the corridor to begin their journey together back to Konoha alone.


	12. Chapter 12

Sakura walked down the ramp of The Duchess with Nomura's arm rested on her shoulder. The exhaustion had definitely left her in quite a trance, despite her hour-long nap on the ship. The world around her appeared to go in slow motion, suspended in the disbelief of reality.

There was a large crowd of crew members loading cargo onto large black wagons and getting into large horse drawn carriages. Sakura could also see that a handful of men were at the end of the ramp they were both traveling down. In a line, they welcomed Nomura and herself into their black and golden carriage. Sakura looked up at Nomura as he received their welcoming, leading Sakura to the carriage, he had a smug and prideful look on his face. His heavy arm on her shoulder rested confidently, unaware of the silent power that Sakura possessed. It hit her for a quick moment-a whisper of darkness, almost like an inner Sakura voice, and it called for her to crush him.

Nomura's ego alone was enough of a beacon to draw others to show him his place among the universe. He could have saved the people drowning on the cargo ship without hesitation, the distress calls were certainly within reach of The Duchess. It bothered Sakura that she had to make sacrifices in order for him to simply agree to save the life of those passengers. She had decided that he was the lowest among the writhing worms in this planet. She didn't want to fathom what terrible things he had to do to reach this level of power among the ranks of the kingpins in the land of sound. Just a taste of it was enough to make this dark inner Sakura rage for his destruction.

She swallowed back her distaste as Nomura arrived to the carriage and opened the door for Sakura. He held out his hand, as if the puny step into the carriage was too much for her, and she swiftly denied it with an effortless hop into the carriage.

Inside was a luxurious and well cushioned cabin that could easily hold up to 15 heads. To Sakura's immediate delight, she noticed the seat cushions were undeniably soft and made of gold satin. The dark voice striving for destruction vanished in a moment as Sakura dug her face into the satin cushions, feeling like she was sinking in a mountain of soft wool. As Nomura and five of his best men slowly entered the carriage they were each amused to see Sakura enjoying herself as she sprawled out on the farthest cushions to the door with a sigh of relief.

Each of the men sat to the side of Nomura, who positioned himself directly across from a cozy Sakura so he could get a good view of her. A crew member signaled from outside the carriage that they were ready to depart and with a flick of the wrist Nomura signaled for the carriage to began to ride away. Sakura was entranced by the overwhelming joy of the rocking of the carriage on the soft pillow like cushions. She slowly began to fade away into a long awaited deep sleep.

Everyone sat silently as Sakura dozed into her slumber.

"Should she be in this carriage?" one of the men asked the other.

"Should she even be coming with us?" asked another to Nomura. There was a long pause, Nomura raised his hand to silence the men as he sat admiring Sakura.

"There comes a time in a man's life when he has to stop chasing concubines and consider the future. Sakura has proven herself worthy of negotiation and leadership. Plus, she has the ability to heal…" he said with a serious tone, then continued with a chuckle "...and the stamina to keep at it for hours". The men caught on to Nomura's sexual insinuation and formed a sinister laughter together.

As the laughter died down one of the men decided to speak up on the white elephant in the room.

"What if she was from a rival clan and she's trying to infiltrate us to bring us down?" another one asked.

"I am also curious as to how she got into the possession of such fine artifacts, and how much she knows about us. Until I have more answers, please consider that she may be the holder of the next heir to the Nomura clan. I don't want her running off to the arms of the competition. Her healing abilities are like nothing I have ever seen, that is something we cannot lose!" Nomura boldly stated. "What do you think, my trusted council members?" Nomura asked holding up a bottle that was waiting from them in carriage. There were a couple moments of silence as the men looked at each other.

"All the men do seem to really like her," one stated aloud with a positive tone and a smile.

"She could also serve as an important healer, giving us an edge against our competitors" said another. Nomura agreed and agreed some more as he served each of them a glass from the champagne bottle.

"A toast, to the new Queen of the Nomura Clan" Nomura beamed as he held up his glass.

Each raised their glass slowly and took a drink. The environment in the room became more business minded as the men began to drink.

"On more important matters, what are we to do about the raid at the auction?" one of the members asked, "have you given thought to what we should do when we get back home?" he continued.

Another man chimed in, "Yeah! Once we show up back home empty handed, with rumors of the auction being fake and turning into a bloodbath-I- I just can't imagine how we aren't going to be immediately targeted by the other drug lords and gangs in the area. We made the trip out there _specifically_ to get the pearl to give us power and protection against our competitors."

"Please don't worry. I have spent a lot of time considering this. Now, I have it all figured out" Nomura began. Each of the men looked eager to hear of his now idea, they had spent the entire boat ride back not just in total gloom and desperation- but in thought.

"We now have the artifacts from the museum of the land of water. I suggest once we get home, we hold our OWN auction, inviting our competitors to see all the great things we got from the museum. We proclaim we got the artifacts at the auction, including the pearl" Nomura proud stated.

"How does that work out?" asked one of the men. "How will that protect us? They know everyone got slaughtered out there from the auction of the museum. That is well-known already."

"Yes!" Nomura interjected, "and we will use this knowledge to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. **We will make them think that WE caused the blood bath! WE stole the auctioned artifacts and that means that WE have the pearl! We have the power if we caused such a slaughter** ".

The men all sat in silence, contemplating whether or not this is a good idea.

"What if they try to test out whether we actually own the pearl? What if they attack us and drop our numbers down to half, like we keep fearing?" asked the quiet man in the corner.

Nomura opened his arms to display the sweet sleeping Sakura along the farthest seat. "That is exactly why we have our divine healer. She will restore our numbers like she did on the boat!" Nomura said opening his hand to a sleeping Sakura. "She can be our secret little pearl, then once our numbers don't drop and our men revived, everyone will believe that we DO have the pearl" he grinned. All of the men looked at each other and slowly started to nod.

"That's so crazy, that it just might work." said one aloud. "Never ending regenerating men...can't beat that. Even if their men double ours, we can still win!"

"We have to make sure she doesn't think of getting away or else this could all fall through" said another to the men.

"This is a strong reason to get Sakura to unite with Nomura and continue the clan's name, she won't leave at that point" one of the men pointed out.

"SHHH! What if she hears us?" the man next to a sleeping Sakura pointed out.

They all began whispering with each other their dark plans for keeping Sakura in their control.

* * *

Sakura slowly lifted her head up from the cushion where she rested for hours. It was nighttime now, and everything inside the cabin was vaguely dark, the curtains drawn. The men were each hunched over each other asleep, except for Nomura who was awake and glancing outside the window, holding the curtain open with a finger. He turned to face Sakura as she began to stretch and rub her eye.

"Sakura, how was your sleep?" Nomura asked quietly, as to not wake the other passengers.

"Like the dead" Sakura mumbled aloud, "what are you looking at?" she asked curiously.

Nomura pointed out the window next to him that he was peering out of. Sakura rose up from her seat and carefully walked over to Nomura's side without disturbing the sleeping men. She stood in front of him and bent over to peer through the small window as he pulled the curtain back with his finger.

The train of carriages were leading down a hill, the view was astounding. A gasp has escaped her lips as the shock hit her, the beauty of the city was so profound. The city was brighter than the stars and the moon. Full of lights of all colors, the city seemed as thought it was a living thing. Entrancing and inviting, it had a pull to it that Sakura couldn't explain. She smiled and admired the city for a good couple of moments. Nomura also took this moment to admire Sakura's beauty, her big green eyes, her young skin and perfect little nose. Sakura turned to Nomura with excitement, catching him off guard.

"I've never seen anything like it before!" she smiled.

"I can tell, it shows on your face" he chuckled at her.

"When I've heard of the land of sound, I've only ever heard of the small villages that were created from the rice patties. I had no idea this giant city even existed!" Sakura explained.

"Of course you haven't! This city is the best kept secret. It's out of the jurisdictions of societies norms. It's a hidden city forged of sin and hopes" Nomura began explaining, "it started out as a farming land, built from the refugees and left-over orphans of war. It wasn't until Orochimaru petitioned for approval of development and independence as the land of sound that it really began to form".

Sakura's eyebrows raised from the mention of the name Orochimaru and Nomura caught the subtle movement. He paused and analyzed her strange reaction. Sakura stared at Nomura in silent shock.

She secretly understood what Nomura's explanation meant. This land was forged as a city to supply Orochimaru's human test experiments. Naturally, it had to be lawless to allow for such disappearances to go on without anyone asking questions. Sakura stared out the window again to the lights. This is where the weapons dealers, hidden jitsu trafficking, mercenaries, drug lords, and prostitution rings arose from. She could see how the city itself allures any innocent person passing by to visit and see its strange marvels, almost like a deep-water fish entrancing its prey with pretty lights. Making strangers or innocent bystanders quick subjects of test experiments or prostitution.

Sakura could feel the piercing eyes of Nomura as she pondered the city through the glass.

It had been almost a half a year ago that it had been reported to Sakura and Naruto that Orochimaru was declared dead by the hand of Sasuke. It led Naruto and Sakura on a wild goose chase to find him, coming up empty handed. She hadn't considered what an effect Orochimaru's death would have on such a nation as the land of the sound.

"But, I heard a rumor that Orochimaru is dead. Is that true?" Sakura asked with a curious tone of innocence. She peered her big green eyes at Nomura, she could see the speculation in his eyes.

"Yes," he slowly responded, maintaining eye contact with her.

Sakura looked upward to ask in the sweetest tone she could muster, "then who is overseeing this city now that he is gone?" a gulp in her throat as she finished her question. Fearing the answer.

"That is just the problem, my dear, no one is in control anymore. Recently, it has become a manslaughter between the most powerful men for control of the city" Nomura answered frankly. Sakura paused to consider his words. What had she actually thrown herself into? She knew very little about the land of the sound and its dangers. She feels like she walked right into a snake pit.

She had to remain objective and stay in focus of her mission to get out as soon as possible before a bloodbath fell upon her. She had up to five days before Kakashi would appear to search for her. She had to obtain as much information as possible on Sageki and the pearl in that time. She considered her initial reason for coming to the land of sound, Kuroma Shichiro.

"I heard Kuroma Shichiro was the underground kingpin of the land of sound. Is that true?" Sakura asked with a feigned disinterest to her question.

Nomura now raised his chin and looked at her with a disillusionment and skepticism.

"How is it, my little flower, that you have now mentioned that name twice before my presence but you don't even recognize the name of the man in front you" Nomura asked, resentment in his voice.

Sakura could feel the increasing suspicion in Nomura's tone, she had to give him something to get him on her side of trust again. What information could she relinquish that could help her reach her goal and not give away her real identity. She sat next to Nomura and placed her hand on his hand.

"I know his name because I left the land of water to find my brother. He followed this man, Kuroma Shichiro to the land of sound. I was planning to bargain for my brothers' life with the objects I had stolen from the museum" Sakura said solemnly, as though it was a secret just between the two of them. "You understand, right? You don't think less of me for being a thief, do you? It was only for my brothers' sake... I have to find him" Sakura did her best to try to force tears to hear eyes as she pretended to plead to Nomura.

Her quick thinking did indeed spare her from his doubt, as he seemed happy with this explanation. He clasped her hand in his, and looked at her big watery green eyes.

"Let's make a deal, I promise I will find your brother - but you have to do a couple favors for me in return. Stay by my side and I will make sure you get everything you deserve." Nomura promised earnestly. Sakura did her best to give an appreciative smile and nod.

'I have him in my fingertips' Sakura thought to herself.

'I have her eating out of the palm of my hand' Nomura thought to himself.

They both gave a smile to each other.


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura Haruno was never a girl who was afraid of heights. Logic would always overcome and she could leap into any situation with the right amount of reasoning behind it. This was important because Sakura was currently leaning out of a window from one of the highest towers in the land of sound. Below her, 20 floors below, was the usual hustle and bustle of the busy night life in the land of sound. The dark night sky above her and the black bathroom curtain caped around her was the only cover she needed to go forward with this mission in stride, she told herself. What was the worst that could happen? She was only about to go running down the tallest tower along one of the busiest streets in the city- it was, after all, the Nomura clan's famous casino tower and hotel.

In regular cloning tests at Konoha, Sakura could hold a clone while being distracted or attacked for roughly 15 minutes. Now she was going to have to adventure far while focusing her chakra on maintaining her clone in her room. This was all the time she had before the clone inside her guarded bedroom would poof into dust and she would likely become discovered as soon as anyone caught wind.

She had actually been under constant surveillance since arriving 2 nights ago to the Nomura Casino and Hotel. She was blinded by the large marble entrances, chandeliers that looked to cost a fortune, hundreds of staff bending to her every whim, expensive honey milk baths and clothes so fine that it would make a Hokage blush. It was hard for Sakura to notice her constant entourage around her, waiting outside her room, watching her eat. Truly breath-taken by the whole lavish experience, she had lost sight of her mission but surely that's what the Clan wanted. Being chaperoned everywhere by guards- not to protect her but to prevent her from something. Did they possibly think that she would run away after the mass murder that Nomura had bestowed on everyone?

It was far too immoral to leave when Nomura's auction was tomorrow.

Soon after arriving to the land of sound, Nomura had made it known to the entire city that he is the owner of the sought-after pearl as well as the composer of the massacre in the land of water. In an even bolder move, he then challenged all of his enemies to come to a his own home facilitated auction for the artifacts that he had stolen at the massacre of the Land of Water. Nomura was either a genius or a massive idiot, and Sakura was fairly sure it was more the latter. Surely, this auction tomorrow would end up deadlier than the last one in the Land of Water.

Instead of running, Sakura was very intent on stopping the auction anyway possible. The problem now was that Nomura had set Kuroma Shichiro as the guest of honor for the night. Nomura knew that Sakura needed to get close to him to question him of Sageki's whereabouts. If this Kuroma guy dies at the massacre then her only lead might be gone. It was cunning of Nomura to do such a thing.

Could it be possible that Nomura was purposely trying to create another massacre to prove a point? Sakura couldn't imagine what the point that could be. Nomura was more cunning than she had regularly imagined, but it didn't mean she felt that he understood the extent of the situation he had just put himself in.

Sakura sighed, she was very tired of all these mind games. She hadn't slept well since she arrived to the Land of Sound, even having all the silk sheets and satin pillows in the world. She was being hunted down by the ghost of Sageki, handing her the glass box then chanting the same poem in every dream before she would violently wake up with a rush of adrenaline. She had enough, there must be a reason that it keeps reappearing and she needed to get that glass box before it was lost forever. She had to steal the box from the storage room of the Nomura tower or else it would appear in the auction tomorrow. The chances of it getting broken or stolen during that most certain showdown tomorrow was too high, it was now or never.

Sakura sat on the window ledge with the black curtain cloak. She peered all the way down from the bathroom window of the tower- counting the floors. She was on the 20th floor, she would have to run down 10 floors and make her way through one of the windows. She pulled out a steak knife she stole from the dinner a couple of hours ago. She infused it with the deepest blue chakra she could muster, making it sharp enough to cut through glass.

She took one last look down before inhaling a deep breath. She leaned down into a quick dash along the side of the building- the faster she was, the less inconspicuous she would be. Tossing herself down the building at full speed, legs racing tirelessly fast-Sakura felt fearless. She continued counting the floors as she sprinted with gravity.

"7,…8,…9,… This one!" she whispered to herself. She leaned down to slide her arm along the wall, reading her for the window on her right. Quickly, she swiped the corner of the window with the chakra knife she held. It took just a two swipes before Sakura's Chakra could completely cut through a corner of the large window with enough space for her to enter her arm in and unlock it. She opened up the window as far outward as she could, leaning over the oblivion of the floor far beneath her. The breeze made her hair whip around her face, she took an unnerving breath as she crawled into the storage room, leaving the window open.

It was rather dark, but Sakura could make out the mountain of boxes and heavy shipping containers. She walked around cautiously searching for any of Yuki's boxes, conscientious of her time limit. She marked each of Yuki's boxes with blue tape- it would be easy to differentiate quickly she assumed. She could hear the footsteps of guards outside of the closed front door, their mumbling between each other was muffled. Sakura paced around on her tip toes, being careful to not make a sound. This continued for a while until she caught sight of the boxes with the blue stripes from the corner of her eye. As she ran over to the pile of boxes, the lights in the room suddenly turn on. Sakura rolled behind a closed storage container as two guards walk into the room. She is frozen in surprise, hiding behind the container. She slowly peeked out the corner of the container to gauge whether or not the guards were a substantial threat.

It was two guards, a chubby guard with blonde hair and a tall skinny guard with brown hair. Sakura gave light exhale of relief, they weren't anything formidable.

"I swear I just heard a noise in here" the blonde guard said to the other.

"It's probably that mouse again. Remember last time we tried to catch him and a crate landed on your dumb hea-" The other guard mentioned in amusement.

"Look! The window is open!" The chubby guard shouted out in surprise.

The guards passed by the corner of the storage box Sakura was crouched behind. They ran over to the open window with the slice of missing glass in the corner. They inspect it curiously and one of them reaches out to close it.

"You ditz! How could you forget to close the window?" one of them says to the other.

"I didn't open it. Who would open it?" he responds.

"well, I hope you're not suggesting the mouse opened it huh? TSK" The other man scoffs.

Sakura used this chance to run out of the open door the guards had entered the room through. It occurred to Sakura that stealth would definitely be a better route than force, which would shut the place down on high alert. Sakura would no doubt be a highly suspicious character, seeing as how she is constantly being guarded and generally given an untrustworthy air. She made it a point to not draw any suspicion tonight.

As the two guards continued Pickering, she made a quick dash for the door. Running down the hall, she peered out the corner hall into another large hallway. She turned the corner and looked back at the open door. It seemed she successfully got by unnoticed, as they were not pursuing her.

No one was around, she could hear the guards returning back to their posts outside the storage room. Sakura slowly opened the small door behind her and peered inside. It was dark but she could make out that it was a janitor's supply room, full of brooms and mops, cleaning supplies and rags. She entered and took a moment to catch her breath, that entire encounter wasn't as slick as she had hoped for. She knew she had to hurry back to her room soon before her clone weakened and disappeared. Spotting a small window out the top corner of the janitor's supply room, she smiled. Running over to the sanctuary of an exit window, she fit her small body through the little space.

Sakura quickly scanned around her surroundings to see if anyone would notice her. She looked back down, she was no longer over the busy street in front of the casino- she was looking down over the large garden that stretched out over the rear of the 3rd floor of the casino. She couldn't make out any faces or anyone noticing her from her height. Focusing her chakra on her feet, she began running up the side of the building to return to her room.

Looking ahead on her run up the side of the building, she noticed a large balcony that oversaw the grand garden below her. She sprinted to it and positioned herself underneath it, she had to check it for any people that would catch her and turn the casino into a lockdown. She slowly peered her eyes over the ledge. Before her was a large window that exposed a larger luxurious apartment, incorporating the same black and golden theme through the hotel that Nomura was famous for. It seemed the apartment was dark and empty, no one was around to notice, so Sakura decided to run past this mysterious apartment and continue back to her room.

As she began her run she noticed from the corner of her eye that there was a man slouched over on a writing desk with a dim lamp on. She paused for a second with fear that she was caught by someone, then focused in to see who it was. She slowly noticed is was Nomura himself, sleeping slouched over on his desk in his black robe with papers sprawled out about the place.

She paused to contemplate the scenario. Sakura had a moment of struggle to continue to her room. She began debating whether or not Nomura really deserved to live, knowing he was endangering the lives of all his men and everyone in his casino for that stunt of an auction tomorrow. Sakura bit her lip. She needed Nomura to present her with the opportunity to get Kuroma Shichiro to cooperatively give her information. She forced air out of her nose with distain as she glared at the vulnerable Nomura.

In this moment of hesitation, something caught her eye. On the night stand next to Nomura's lamp was the broken holographic jewelry box that Sakura had offered to Nomura on the night of the sinking ship.

Sakura gasped. That's exactly what she was looking for in the storage room! Of course he would still have it, she thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

She crouched along the wall and began crawling toward the balcony door, scanning for any guards as she moved in. She silently opened the door with as much grace as she could muster. Silence. A loud snoring commenced as she listened carefully into the room- a sure sign that he was in a deep sleep.

Relieved, Sakura walked into the room timidly. She slowly tip toed over to the desk, sure not to make a noise. She passed by the sleeping Nomura and eased over to the jewelry box, watching his resting figure as she lifted the box up into her hands. In that same moment, the light coming from the lamp on the desk illuminated the glass on the jewelry box and momentarily the words were decorated around the entire room. Sakura quickly pulled the box away from the light and turned away to make a dash for the door. As she took two steps in dash, she was sharply pulled back by her black cape, choking her. Surprised, she turned around to see Nomura awake, holding the edge of her cape.

Nomura eyes met Sakura's- looking straight into them before reaching out and trying to remove her cloak. Immediately, Sakura's reflexes kicked in and she gave a strong whip back kick into his chin- knocking him back onto his desk and releasing her. She made a mad sprint to the balcony and only looked back into the apartment once she was high in the air, jumping off into the garden a few floors down. She could see the guards rushing into the room as Nomura screamed from the top of his desk, blood rushing down his nose. Sakura smirked as she continued down to the garden floor, landing abruptly making a circle of dust around her. She looked around her at all the shocked faces before sprinting past the pedestrians to escape the oncoming wave of guards that were surely coming. Everyone was shocked, and quickly moved out of her way as she sprinted for the edge of the luxurious garden. The guards were quick to catch up to her but they stopped with a gasp as she leaped off the edge of the garden into the oblivion of the streets, 3 floors down.

Once in the crowd, no one even turned her way- it was midnight and few people were sober. Sakura took this moment to dash into a nearby alley before she would be able to get followed.

She sank down into the corner of a trash can and a large man hole in the alley, catching her breath. She looked at the jewelry box with a pleasurable grin on her face. She looked back out the alley towards the main street, no one was following her.

The strain of her limited clone's chakra pulled at her. She knew her clone wouldn't be lasting much longer, she was also so far away from the clone sitting on her bed from the highest floor of the Nomura tower. She had to get back quickly, before the clone disappeared. She rose up and took a large deep breath, hiding the jewelry box in the small satchel strapped on her waist.

Peering out the corner of the alley, she scanned the scene- the guards out front from the casino, walking around looking for her. She had to get back into the building from another method rather than running up the side- now they were expecting that to a degree.

She thought for a moment, how could she get there quickly. She needed to get up to at least the room underneath her own room so that she could climb back in through her bathroom window.

She continued to contemplate for a moment or two, the guards growing more frantic with each passing moment- scouring the crowd in front of the casino for someone suspicious.

It hit her, Nomura would be the least suspicious person right now to walk through the entrance and go up to the top of the tower without saying a word or getting any questions. She just had to use her chakra to switch into a Nomura illusion for a little bit. If she thought about canceling her clone on purpose she would have to be fast before anyone of the guards went to her room looking for her. She felt the nudge of her clone wavering towards disappearing- she had to do it, she didn't have time.

"KAI" she released her clone. The cloned Sakura sitting on the hotel bed suddenly poofed into a cloud of smoke.

Sakura quickly made the hand seals and transformed into the mirror image of Nomura in his black sleeping robes, as she had just seen him in. Her voice wouldn't emulate Nomura- so as long as Sakura kept her mouth shut, it was a perfect disguise.

She hurried to turn the corner and gave her best rendition of an angry Nomura, to play the part. She stomped straight past the crowd to the Casino doors, getting looks from all around her. The guards at the door quickly ran to open the doors for Sakura as she grunted and continued marching to the elevators. Four different guards ran up to her frantically.

"SIR! We have no signs of the intruder!" one of them began.

"You need to hurry to the safe room before something happens, sir!" The other one quickly added.

Sakura grunted and continued to the elevators. Two of the guards began to follow her into the elevator. Sakura turned around and suddenly grunted loudly while pointing at the entrance, all of the guards turned around to gaze at the entrance- thinking an intruder appeared! With their eyes focused elsewhere- Sakura sprinted into the elevator and pressed the button for the 19th floor, smiling at the guards trying to squeeze in through the closing doors.

Arriving at the floor beneath her room, Sakura walked out of the elevator casually, looking left and right down the halls. She followed the hallway to the room which would lead directly beneath hers. She knocked on the door of the hotel room, no response, she knocked again louder with a hurried rhythm. She looked back down the hall at the elevator, one of them was coming up to her floor- surely full of angry and confused guards. Sakura decided to kick open the door, she mustered up a great force of chakra and swiftly struck it with a strong kick. After the loud bang she caused, which she knew would draw attention, she rushed into the room and closed the hotel door behind her. She pushed in all the locks and listened for the guards who had erupted out of the elevators following the bang.

Not a moment had passed by before she could hear the footsteps from the hallway approaching the door. Sakura sprinted for the bathroom window, which should be right below hers- a quick hop and a skip before she was finally back in her room.

Making a dash past the hotel bed straight for the bathroom- Sakura only noticed that she wasn't alone right before standing at the doorframe of the bathroom. She peered back to see a man frozen in fear at the headboard of the bed, he was a heavy set hairy man. Sakura paused from her run to gawk at the man sitting on the bed in thick yellow eyeshadow, bright red lipstick, bright red pumps, a garter belt strapped to his thigh high stockings and baby blue nipple tassels. She could hear the guards pounding at the door and screaming to be let in but she really couldn't manage to look away from what she was seeing. She shook her head in disbelief and began to run into the bathroom- but she couldn't continue without an intervention. She popped her head back out the bathroom door.

"Those tassels don't match with the rest of the outfit. Either change the tassels or the eyeshadow", Sakura threw him a bathrobe.

"When they get in, you didn't see me and I didn't see you- got it?" Sakura added in her voice, despite appearing as Nomura.

The strange man caught the bathrobe and slowly nodded his head in shock. Sakura raised her hand up in thanks to the man before entering the bathroom and locking the door, she released her Nomura illusion and headed for the window. She heard the guards stampede through the front hotel room door as she was already out the window and climbing into her own bathroom window a floor above.

She sighed with relief as she swiftly got into the safety of her hotel room bathroom and closed the window. She leaned against the bathroom counter for a moment, soaking in her success for the night with a smile. She went to open the bathroom door so she could hide the jewelry box in her room - but she heard her bedroom door creek open and multiple footsteps entering. She froze and ran to the shower to turn on the water. She quickly began stripping down. She grabbed the jewelry box to place it in the bathroom cupboard with all the other expensive trinkets she bought. Throwing her satchel under the bathroom sink, she heard a loud knock on the bathroom door.

"WHO IS IT?" Sakura yelled out. She stripped off the last of her clothes and made her way into the running water of the shower.

"Come out right now! We need to inspect the room!" shouted one of the guards.

"Go away, inspect the room all you want when I'm done taking a-" Sakura shouted as she closed the glass door of the shower. Suddenly, three guards entered the bathroom. Sakura gave a loud gasp of disbelief, she was standing naked in the shower as the guards all ran in to ransack the bathroom.

"Get the hell out! What are you looking for?! Can't you see I'm naked?!" Sakura complained as she tried to cover herself with a nearby hanging towel. She did her best to distract the guards going through the bathroom drawers by throwing shampoo bottles at them and screaming for them to leave. If they find the jewelry box she might have to break their necks, she thought to herself. That would definitely complicate things.

Having given up on their search due to the annoyance of Sakura's screaming, the guards took one last look at Sakura before leaving the bathroom and excusing themselves with red smiling faces.

Sakura sat on the shower floor as the water soaked her and the towel thoroughly.

She cursed to herself.

"That was too close" she whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait to post a new chapter. The holidays were interesting to say the least. I have, in my absence, tried to improve my own writing. I hope it's apparent. Please feel free to comment and review.

I will now continue to update more frequently now that the holidays are over with.

Thank you for continuing to read

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Sakura waited an hour under the drizzle of the warm shower head to finally turn off the water. She heard the guards tearing apart her bedroom earlier from the safety of the shower. She waited as long as possible before feeling comfortable that they were all gone. Her nerves were on edge, it was a very close call when the guards searched the bathroom. She didn't want to give them a chance to search it again by finishing her shower before they left.

She walked out of the shower dripping wet, grabbing the nearest towel on the floor. She walked carefully over to the bedroom door and listened for any sounds that could hint someone was still in the room. Silence. She opened the door slowly . . . peeked her head through the crack . . .

It was complete turmoil: the mattress of the bed was flipped against the wall. The ground was scattered with the many objects that had once filled the drawers, Nomura's frivolous bribes of expensive clothes and jewelry. Dressers, mirrors, tables—all tossed about across the room. The curtains thrown onto the pile on the ground.

Sakura flung open the bathroom door in bewilderment at the sight of the chaos. How was she going to clean all this? Everything was a complete disaster. Looking over to the hallways near the entrance, Sakura noted that the wine rack she had previously never noticed was the only thing intact. She sought refuge with the only other unbroken thing in the room. She fumbled with some spiteful words as she stomped over her belongings towards the wine rack.

Grabbing the first bottle she could get, she pulled at the wine cork with her teeth. Just the right amount of chakra and it was out. She spat the cork in the general direction of the mess in the middle of the room. Walking back to the cleanliness of the bathroom, she started sipping from the bottle. It was a nice Rose Chardonnay, the sweet taste was the calm she needed among the havoc. She casually picked up a cracked lamp from a pile on the floor and nodded to herself as she entered the bathroom. She plugged in the lamp to the electric outlet. She turned on the lamp, and took another swig in praise of it lighting up. She strolled over to turn off the bathroom light switch and passed by the faucet to obtain her prize. It did, after all, cost this much turmoil. The glass box was unscathed and glistened in the innocence of all it had caused. Sakura glared at it as she walked it back to the wall next to the lamp. She took another swig.

She sat in a graceful squat next to the lamp on the floor and set the bottle down next to her.

"Okay now..here we go" she mumbled to herself. Sakura suspected Sageki's frequent appearances in her dreams had to be connected to this box. Never had she heard poetry recited in her dreams. And definitely not the same poem across multiple dreams. If those recurring dreams meant anything at all, they would be the key to opening this secret box.

She held the glass box to the light, the words illuminating the dark room. She looked words spanning the wall, it seemed like they could fit. She pushed the broken shards of glass around the box.

"They stand in black and white…" she whispered to herself.

."…As the moon and the star lit sky" she followed aloud as she searched for the words to bring together—listening to the clicking as she morphed the pieces into a sentence. Sakura took another victory sip from her wine bottle.

"Amongst the oblivious,

Harmoniously bowing to each other"...Click and another click.

"Unspoken words filling the air

For whispers can't be spoken without a care" Sakura is startled by her own success, but the worry begins to set in as she considers its connotations.

"…Loving eyes just stare

What joy love brings

What hurt it sings

To be as lonely as the pale moon...

Watching the reflection of the stars on the sea...

They call themselves secret lovers.."

She takes another drink.

"For no one knows...

How the story goes"

A loud click sounded at the top of the box and she realized that it had miraculously unlocked. Sakura timidly opened the lid and removed a thick folded note. A million guesses ate at her as she quickly tried to unravel it. As she began unfolding the pieces of paper, she noticed how crisp and white they were. The paper was new.

Worry began to overtake her; the fact that she knew the poem must mean someone meant for this to happen. She took a long long drag from the bottle next to her.

'My dearest Sakura,'

Uncontrollably, Sakura pulled the bottle away from her lips, spitting out the wine onto the bathroom floor. She stared wide-eyed at the paper, touching her her face. Her heart was racing with anticipation as she summoned the courage to keep reading.

'If you are reading this, I'm probably not around to update you on the situation of my mission. My apologies. The past few days I have been placed under heavy surveillance and my mission reports never seem to make it too far out of the land of water. I can only fear the worst. Upon finding this box, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get my messages across to you without interference.'

Sakura paused, her hands shaking...She took a big gulp from the head of the bottle.

'I took this mission to get you closer to the pearl, whether or not I survive shouldn't matter. I had to find a way to get this information to you somehow- remember when you showed me an old book about these puzzle boxes? You asked me to make one for you. I knew the moment you'd see this, you'd be tempted to crack it open.. I even charmed it a little to entice you further" Sakura shook her head in disbelief. Yet, if she really thought about it, this is undoubtedly Sageki's style.

'There are dangerous people who need this information I now have, so I recommend you destroy this once you have committed it to memory.'

Sakura checked the back of the paper, there was a map drawn and instructions written out. Sakura took a deep breath. He found it… She was unable to contain her smile. So many emotions rushed into her, shock, happiness, and pride of Sageki's work.

To her own surprise, Sakura began feeling teary eyed.

'Know that if I am dead, it is not your fault- but my own. You were right about hesitating to give me this position, I was naive and trusted too many. I lacked experience to be taking up a higher-ranking mission like this. I'm sorry.'

Tears appeared slowly, uncontrollably streaming down Sakura's face. She could hear the fear and remorse in the words he wrote. His tone felt dark, hopeless.

Sakura couldn't help but recall all of the begging Sageki did to have her enlist him as the head Shinobi of this mission. She knew he was sick and tired of working as a weapons maker and that he lusted for adventure. Despite that, no matter how much he begged, she thwarted him away. She recalls adding insult to injury by recounting her own adventures to Miki and Sageki. This must have caused his resolve to strengthen and his persistence made her crack. She decided to give him the chance, entrusting him with leading her precious mission, two ranks above him. She should have known better. He would have been safe at home right now, had she not given in.

In a striking realization, she knew she should have come charging in to save Sageki the moment his mission reports fell behind. A gasp left her lips as shame struck her conscious. She didn't immediately go chasing after him. Why? She gripped the bottle in her hand harder. She knew why. She didn't want to believe that someone, who reminded her so much of Naruto, would fail. Naruto had never failed, he persisted. She wanted to give him the chance to persist as well, surely coming out a greater person for his victory...It was the greatest feature that Sageki had about him. It was actually the only feature that she thought would be the key to get her to possibly love him one day.

Her eyes flooded over with tears. She took a long drink from the bottle.

It was so selfish of her. She couldn't simply like Sageki for who he was. She had to hone in on this one trait in hopes that it could get her to fall in love with him. She envisioned a life with Sageki, everything would fit nicely in theory—but she just didn't love him. No matter how hard she tried. Wasn't it wrong of her to force herself to love him, trying to highlight the only trait she liked about him, ultimately putting him in grave danger?

A warm image of Sasuke looking back at her intruded on her thoughts. Trying to force herself to forget that stupid boy…it just doesn't work.

She began weeping loudly. Sakura's cry was raw. It was an ugly cry, a deep and soulful cry that she had been withholding. She leaned her head against the wall and let out her wail without restraint.

Sakura had to keep reassuring herself that Sageki was alive somewhere. She was repeatedly trying to convince herself things were not as bad as they seemed. However, now reading the tone in Sageki's letter- she could no longer lie to herself.

Sakura took another long drink from her bottle. Sakura began to feel the effects of the wine numbing her. She looked down at the bottle before taking another drink. She looked down at her blurry letter...

'Nonetheless, I thank you for your belief in me. What I have written here is the absolute truth of my trials leading up to this point…' The view of the paper got foggy, Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes. She took the edge of the towel she was still wearing and cleaned her face with it. She held back her tears and looked down at the paper.

'A man named Yuki Nagano is manipulating the Resistance group in the Land of Water.' Sakura's mouth fell open in shock. A small gasp escaped her mouth, followed by panic. 'Being an important historian and museum curator, he was the first man we reached out to regarding intel on the pearl. I gave him all the information you bestowed upon be for the mission, a foolish mistake. There were many missing pieces he was amazed to discover based on your research. He agreed to help us and even suggested a plan to set up an auction to catch people in search of the pearl and gather further information we did not have. I believed him but he would occasionally slip and tell me that he didn't believe anyone actually had the pearl, he was very keen on finding a 'summoning scroll' which he would hold back information about. According to his accounts, the summoning scroll has not been discovered and it is the only way to the pearl." Sakura paused and tried to digest the words on the paper. She had heard about a summoning scroll amongst only one or two of her old research articles. This was news to her that this scroll was necessary for summoning the pearl. With the information hidden about the pearl needing to be summoned, it's no wonder that no one can find it. So Yuki wasn't after the pearl, he was chasing the summoning scroll for the pearl.

Beyond her recognition of logic was Yuki's suggestion of an auction. It actually seemed like a wild suggestion if Yuki didn't truly believe anyone actually had the pearl. It was risky to invite very dangerous people to a single gathering point and then lie to them about selling an object no one possesses. There had to have been another reason for it, it couldn't possibly be for the pearl. Sakura sipped a little more wine and returned back to her reading inquisitively.

"The more questions I asked, the more suspicious Yuki became to me. I had my men look further into him, they both soon disappeared mysteriously. I decided to follow him myself, I found out that he had conspired with the Rebellion group to steal the water Hokage's crest. Those old stories about large gems thought to hold power that only the Hokage knew how to unlock, they were true. In disbelief, I snuck into Yuki's office and stumbled across some vague notes written out that generally plan out how obtain all three of the Hokage's sacred crests.' Sakura gasped. It's the dark blue gem Sakura returned to Yuki on the ship before they parted ways. The thing that Yuki was frantically looking for on the cargo-ship before it was attacked! He did have the Hokages crest. Now he's escaped to Konoha successfully with Sakura and Kakashi's help! Anxiety built up in Sakura's chest. Her breathing became rapid as she was overcome with shock and guilt. She looked back down at the paper as she clutched her chest.

'The rebellion group that Yuki is secretly in, apparently is rumored to have stolen the crest recently. They are being hunted down by government officials in the area, but it dawned on me that the government run museum would be the perfect place to hide the crest. I could not reach out to the Hokage of the land of water because my mission would be unveiled and it would cause problems for Konoha. In a covert mission, I was able to leave a couple hints to some officials that it is hidden in the museum. Being a success, it's only a matter of time before they raid the museum in search of the crest. Yuki seems to know it's not safe at the museum, I can see him walking on eggshells all the time. He must be plotting of ways to get off of the island with the crest. I'm sure we showed up at the perfect time for him.

I just can't piece together why he would go so far. I wish you were here to help me figure this out. I know you would be able to piece this together, you've always been amazing with problems like this. I am going to the auction tomorrow, and if the worst case happens- I must to leave this mystery in your hands Sakura.

I have drawn out the alleged map to the 'summoning scroll' that Yuki was looking for based on his notes."

Sakura opened up the second folded paper that had a poorly drawn map. It pointed to a canyon between two rivers in far corner of the land of earth. Underneath the drawing, notes are written that state: The battle of Rouju, circa 340. Old Snake dens. Traps of the early 300's. The Blind man's maze."

"Yuki, he makes himself out to be more innocent than he really is, if you encounter him- please be careful. He is definitely after the pearl and is killing people to get his hands on it. Unfortunately, he is now armed with your knowledge. Our only upper hand is that he doesn't have the summoning scroll. You have to hurry and get it before he figures out where to find it.

No matter how smart he is, I know he isn't as smart as you Sakura. You can do this, I believe in you.

With the deepest of love,

Sageki Matsukawa"

Sakura read the last two lines back and forth repeatedly. She chugged the rest of the bottle, not that there was much left. She had to mentally digest all she had just read.

Sakura paused. She dropped the papers on the floor next to her and ran her hands through her hair.

The memory of the big blue gem that had the golden engravings around it spun in her head. It was the stolen Hokage's emblem. That was what he wanted all along! It was all linked. She looked around the dark room in thought.

That must be why Yuki sent for Kakashi and I to find the man we interrogated. That must be why he was killed, he must have been the last person who knew that Yuki had the crest. He was the last known survivor of the auction, he was intended to die at the auction so that Yuki could leave! That man obviously didn't have any information on Sageki when Sakura interrogated him. He was concerned with the murders where none of his men survived… What if the auction was created to wipe out everyone in that organization who knew Yuki had the Hokage's crest? Then it hit Sakura.

If this is true, then the purpose of the auction was just for Yuki to invite the strongest men to kill off his enemies for him. As long as he could convince the resistance group to attack the crowd at the auction- they would surely not make it out alive. They were men fighting against trained shinobi and unground lords with armed men.

This is what the auction was about. Killing off anyone who knew Yuki's secret.

That must be what this auction is about tomorrow.

Nomura could have realized the same thing then decide to use the same tactic. The auction tomorrow must be for the blood lust.

Was Nomura at Yuki's auction? How did he survive the auction? Maybe I need to interrogate him more… How could I not question all these injured men I healed on the boat? Sakura slapped her forehead.

How did Sageki not make it out alive? He was a well-trained Shinobi with wit about him. Who the hell was at that auction!

Sakura could technically just leave now and find the summoning scroll for the pearl. She was geographically closer to it than Yuki and he didn't know she now had this information. She has the upper hand at the moment.

However, something itched at her, it kept her from leaving. The pearl wasn't why she set out on this mission. She needed to know what happened to Sageki. He tried his goddamn best, why isn't he here now? In her soul there was resentment and pain that needed to be patched up. She needed to get answers from Nomura, as well as Kuroma Shichiro.

Then she will march straight to Konoha and make Yuki pay for all the blood he has shed. It boiled in her chest now, the rage that craved to see Nomura's head bashed into a table and a few of his men with broken kneecaps. She desired to feel the warm blood trickling out of all the injuries she was going to inflict on them. It was an inner pain she felt that needed to be heard by those who caused it.

This is truly just a call from the darker side of Sakura. It had always been inside of her, even in childhood through her 'inner Sakura voice'. Over the years it quietly matured within her to be this sinister reflection of her pain. It lingers, Sakura is only able to address it at times when no one is around.

She decided that she will address it at the auction. It is probably going to be a bloodbath anyways, she thought to herself. Sakura felt no remorse on turning a blind eye to the casualties tomorrow and leaving to Konoha after getting her information, hopefully causing some juicy havoc along the way.

Sakura stared at the letter intently. She began tearing the it apart into little pieces. Standing up, she swayed over to the toilet, holding her shreds as well as the puzzle box. She dumped the small confetti of shredded letters into the toilet and flushed it without hesitation. She lifted up the cover to the toilet tank and threw in the puzzle box. Revenge clouded her mind as she stumbled back to her room… She has a big day planned, she would need the rest.


	15. Chapter 15

I've gone back and touched up the earlier chapters.

My apologies

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Little sleep had taken Sakura when she became abruptly woken by a loud clash. She shot out from her sleep, rolling off the mattress and onto the ground. She grabbed a long sharp decorative hair rod among the clutter on the floor where she landed. She held it in preparation to attack as she peeked her head over the mattress…in front of her entryway was a pudgy little maid standing in complete shock with a hand covering her mouth. A tray large of hot food was smashed on the ground in front of her. Sakura paused and tossed the rod to the ground before standing up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you…" mumbled the maid as her eyes took in the situation of Sakura's room.

"No food for me, thanks. Now get out" Sakura stated with annoyance behind her words.

The maid nodded and pointed to the door, "I can have this cleaned up in a bit, but uh…" she stood lost for words for a moment "there is a man standing outside your door waiting for you to wake up. Shall I get him?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. She hesitated for a moment as she looked down to see she was still in a towel. She peered around the clutter scattered throughout the room and saw a silk robe across from her. She nodded to the maid while walking over to put her silk robe on. Her walking felt a bit off, almost as though her coordination was still impaired.

The maid inhaled sharply while watching Sakura trying to robe herself. She darted her eyes across the room as she hastily walked back to the hallway door, pausing for a moment to gasp at the kunai lodged in the doorframe at head height.

Sakura paid no mind to the bewildered maid as she tied her robes around her thin waist. She ran her fingers through her hair to reveal a disheveled mess above her head. She sighed and rolled her eyes back before jumping up at a loud feminine squeak that shot out from the doorway. The sound echoed in her head like large bells, vibrating down her spine. She turned to look at the doorway with a deep glare.

A tall thin man in an expensive navy suit with tan skin and bright blonde hair stood at her doorway, eyes wide open in shock and both hands covering his mouth. The maid and the guards stood behind the door from the hallway peering inside with shock.

"Who are you?" Sakura barked at the man.

"I-I came in earlier, but uh,.." he stumbled upon his words as he pointed to the kunai at the door frame.

"Oh. That's where that went…" Sakura said to herself as she eyed the kunai.

"Sorry. I actually don't remember throwing that, but you're lucky I was a little intoxicated or else I wouldn't have missed" she confirmed with a nod.

The man smiled nervously "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come in so early- but Mr. Nomura had sent me to prepare you for the auction today and, honestly, by the looks of it I'm going to need every minute allotted."

Sakura paused at the hint of sarcasm in his remark and bit her cheek.

She put her hand on her hip and pointed at him condescendingly.

"…Who..who are you again?" she asked.

He bowed formally, "Apologies. I am Masa Tanaka, I'm sure you've heard of me." He smiled as he looked up at Sakura standing on a pile of clutter in a poorly tied silk robe and a pink nest for hair…the realization struck him that such a creature would not have heard of him. "Actually, never mind. I am Mr. Nomura's esteemed stylist- the best in the entire land of the sound-"

Sakura cut him off, "what time is it right now? Can I go back to sleep or do we have to do this right now?"

"Right now would be best. It _is_ 10 in the morning…My studio has been ready and waiting for you _since 8_ …" Masa said through his teeth.

Sakura shrugged and threw her arms to her side.

"Fine" she huffed, "but cut the attitude. I've had a terrible night with almost no sleep"

She walked over to Masa and passed by the wine rack near the entry way. She took a double step back and grabbed a bottle.

"This is to keep me from going insane" she said as she held it up to show Masa. He nodded and held the door open for her. She pulled the kunai out of the door frame and then held it up to show him, "and this is in case you dare to think you're going to put me in a pink dress". Masa pulled away from Sakura in a defensive manner as she marched onward to the hallway.

"…this is going to be a very long morning" sighed Masa as he closed the door behind them.

* * *

Sakura had spent the forsaken day getting dunked in hot water, creamed in mud, hair pulled, scrubbed up and down on then waxed _every_ where. She would have never believed before this experience that expensive pampering was equivalent to an ancient torture practice.

After hours of hard work, Masa and his team of girls stood there marveling at Sakura.

She was in a sleeveless gown, sporting pure rose gold bands tight along her upper biceps. Her wrists were covered in various expensive gold bracelets that clinked as she swayed her arms. Her fingers with multiple rose gold rings covered in diamonds and onyx gems to match her expensive necklaces.

Her gown was a grey pink shoulder-less dress that exposed her clavicle and shoulder muscles in a very fitting manner. It wrapped snuggly around her waist before slitting open to expose her thigh as she walked. The heavy pink material of the dress was soft and glimmering like silk, but wrapped over it was a black lace that gave plenty of form fitting creases and layers to extenuate her curves.

Her hair was loosely curled, diamond embedded hair pins and rose gold petals kept her looking like perfection. Her facial features were highlighted with makeup, some sparkle added to her cheekbones and eye frame. Her eyes were smokey in a natural tone and lips glossed to the nines. Her skin sparkled a healthy glow and she smelled like a fresh spring breeze passing through a rose garden.

Masa was getting teary eyed looking her up and down.

"It's my greatest work yet. I'm going to be world famous after this" he squeaked with tears.

"You turned a loose farm hen into a peacock Masa!" cooed one of the girls, "I would have never imagined she could be so pretty" remarked another girl.

"oh stop ladies, you're just saying that to make me feel better" Masa joked. The girls hugged him in congratulations.

Sakura's eye was twitching in annoyance from the insults, "I'm standing right here guys, I can hear you."

It was night now, the banquet leading into the auction had begun. Sakura was escorted into a grand convention hall in the biggest building of the Nomura Casino chain.

It was extravagant, there were four story ceilings, flowers everywhere, large chandeliers, larger glass windows and a buffet table along the back of the room. The waiters walked around offering champagne to each of the guests. Hundreds of people were present, dressed to the nines. The place was crawling in bodyguards and armed men casually standing around. Nomura currently was standing at a microphone at the front of the grand hall, calling attention and gratitude to various guests in the audience.

Sakura walked around slowly, unsure where to go. Trying to focus on what Nomura was saying , she was interrupted by a waiter.

"Champagne ma'am?" he asked, handing her a cup.

"Is there anything stronger than champagne here? Could you find me an expensive wine? Or a strong Vodka?"

The waiter gave her a disturbed look before shaking his head no. Sakura gave an annoyed 'tsch' before drinking the champagne and shooing him away. She returned her gaze back to Nomura's speech as she continued to drink.

"…so please sit tight as the auction will begin in a few minutes. Take the time to mingle. I would also like to take a moment to make one last quick announcement.

I would like you all to meet my fiancé, the future queen of the Nomura empire- Sakura Haruno!" Sakura spat out the champagne as everyone turned around to face her.

"She is new here, from the Land of Water. I hope you make her feel welcome, we will be sending you all wedding invitations in the next upcoming months. Thank you!" Nomura finished with a wave as he was given a round of applause from the crowd. He shook hands with a few men up in front of the stage and was congratulated as he re-entered the crowd. A band came on stage after him and began playing.

Sakura was still left frozen in position. She couldn't believe what she just heard. She was going to have to kill Nomura tonight now for his stupid remark. She grabbed another passing waiter and demanded him to bring her the entire champagne bottle. He escaped her grasp shaking…

Sakura strutted around sipping her champagne, getting greetings and congratulations from people passing by. She was trying to find Nomura to clarify what had just happened, but it was like finding a needle in a hay stack.

Luckily, she spotted him from across the hall. He was with a handful of people in a circle discussing something. She handed her empty champagne glass to someone standing next to her and marched over to Nomura.

As she got closer to him, he turned from his conversation with the group and gave her a big grin. "Sakura, you look stunning!", he beamed with delight.

"What the f— " Sakura declared with a growl as she entered the group. She was quickly cut off by Nomura, "AHH, yes let me introduce you to our important patrons of business, Sakura!".

He turned to face each of the members and addressed them by their full names. Sakura was clearly not interested. She was waiting for him to finished before verbally digging him a grave. Nomura's introduction arrived to the man in the middle of the circular group, standing just across from them.

It was a young man with light brown disheveled hair and black eyes. He was wearing a grey button up with a black suited vest and some black dress pants. His facial features were distractingly attractive. His cheeks were noticeable with his dimples, his skin had a healthy light glow and he even had a beauty freckle right below his left eye.

"This is Kuroma Shichiro" Nomura said before continuing down the circle of guests.

Sakura stopped paying attention and gawked at Shichiro. Her jaw would almost drop if it wasn't attached to her.

Shichiro lowered his head condescendingly. He traced through every inch of Sakura with his eyes before reaching her feet. Sakura raised her eyebrow at him with shock. What nerve! She didn't appreciate getting ogled. He raised his eyes up to catch her reaction.

Nomura appreciated Shichiro's interest in his new toy.

"Ahh. Shichiro! You like what you see? She's like a priceless mermaid, is she not? You'd be hard pressed to find a prettier girl in all the land" Nomura boasted. Sakura rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Yes. All mermaids carry pretty little faces to drown men to their deaths, and she seems to look the part" Shichiro wisely cracked. The guest members around him began to giggle and laugh.

Sakura glared at him, biting her tongue.

"Are auctions where everyone gets killed a cultural practice among the mermaids in the land of water? Because I think maybe you should go home if that's the case, we don't need anyone getting killed here tonight" beamed Shichiro. The group chuckled and the ladies covered their smiles at the backhand thrown out by Shichiro.

Sakura finished sipping on her champagne for a moment before swiftly returning her reply.

"No, that's only when we invite foreigners from overseas, you see, we try to weed out the weak" she said. The group gave out a fine howl of laughter and outrage.

"Well, it's a good thing I made it out. Taking command of the land of sound should be a breeze now, right?" he smiled charmingly as he looked around the group for agreement. Nomura was not pleased by that response and Sakura noticed Nomura grip her arm.

"Then maybe you should return to Mizugakure without your precious bodyguards and determine if you're really the one who got yourself out" Sakura returned the charming smile to Shichiro. "They sound highly qualified if they got you along this far in life" she giggled after holding up her champagne glass to the bodyguards trying to hide within the crowd about 10 feet away from them. Sakura took a sip in victory as the groups laughter howled through the halls.

Shichiro bit his tongue, he had nothing to contest that with and looked approvingly at Sakura. He enjoyed a good banter, it was hard to find.

"Are all mermaids as good with comebacks as you? I might have to look into getting myself a good fish tank too, Nomura" Shichiro remarked, raising his glass to her.

He gave her an electric smile, and refused to take her eyes off him while he kept drinking.

"Theres not a fish tank big enough in this whole place to get _you_ a mermaid, Shichiro" Sakura remarked.

"Well, what if we went back to the Mizugakure right now, and I'll let you put me in one of your human tanks instead" Shichiro responded with a flirtatious tone. Sakura let out an embarrassed laugh, she was blushing.

Nomura was getting anxious, it was obvious the two of them were flirting in front of the group. "I always enjoyed the Mizugakure. It is such a dream island- what could possible make a little mermaid like you want to leave?" he asked inquisitively.

"My" Sakura was quickly interrupted by Nomura who barked out, "LOVE!".

The group jumped at his alarmingly raised voice, eyes jolted back and forth between each individual in the group. Sakura stood a bit dumbfounded at Nomura's abrupt awkwardness. Nomura inhaled deeply as all eyes were now on him..

Shichiro watched him with a raised eyebrow.

"She came to join me, as queen of the land of sound! In case you missed the announcement earlier—" Nomura proudly began bragging as he held Sakura's hand to show Shichiro. Sakura had no time for this, she needed to interrogate Shichiro and Nomura was getting in the way. She pulled her hand away from him and turned to him.

"Every one heard about your surprise announcement. Why don't you go find that designer of yours so you can begin planning for the event? Go make yourself useful. Run along."

The group members gasped with tense shoulders. They've never heard someone speak to Kingpin Nomura in such a manner, especially not someone so tiny in comparison to him. They darted their eyes, try to subtly gaze Nomura's reaction.

Nomura was clearly dumbfounded. Sakura was little, but undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. She possessed an air of confidence and authority that even loomed over a giant man like Nomura. Sakura watched the group gazing at Nomura. She looked up at him and waved her hand up and down, shooing him away like a dog.

Shichiro pursed his lips together…trying to hold back his grin. He couldn't help but laugh into his champagne glass as Nomura slowly sulked away from the group, defeated.

Sakura smiled as she saw Shichiro laughing into his glass. She looked around and tried to ease the tension in the group.

"Wow. A win _and_ a laugh from the great Shichiro? You must be pickled" she remarked with a smile, "Someone cut him off already."

The group members continued with laughter.

A waiter passed by and everyone traded their empty cups for fresh champagne.

The group members started making remarks about the last great wedding they had been to, discussing the elegance and cost. Sakura didn't want to hear anything about weddings, it was making her skin crawl. A couple of minutes had passed and she couldn't change the conversation away from the topics of weddings. She focused instead on getting the attention of Shichiro, she wanted to interrogate him in private.

Sakura needed to safely use a bit of seduction chakra without effecting anyone else in the crowd. Too many trigger-happy lunatics in one room at the moment. She came to a wild idea. Focusing a good amount of seduction chakra into her hands, she could seep the seduction chakra deep into Shichiro, just like she handles healing chakra.

She walked around the outskirts of the group till she was next to Shichiro. She smiled at him seductively and held out her hand for him.

"Let's see if your dancing is as poor as your quick wit" Sakura beamed at Shichiro as she crept closer to him. Shichiro was mesmerized by her smile and reached down for her hand before looking at it and quickly withdrawing it back in alarm. He shook his head and excused himself, "Sorry. Secretly, I'm actually quite the germ-aphobe" he confessed.

Sakura caught his hesitation and questioned him with her eyes. Did he catch her shift in chakra? Was he on to her? The silence was tense.

"Maybe you're holding back some secrets too, Mrs. Soon-to-be Nomura" he teased. "So, why did you _really_ come to the land of sound?" he asked in an interrogative tone, "and what can I do to talk you into going back?"

"Honestly, if you wish for secrets maybe we should take a walk to somewhere more secret" she held her hand out, directing him away from the group. Sakura needed him outside so she could fume her seduction chakra, he saw through the hand trick. Shichiro agreed, then nodded to the patrons in the group-excusing himself. According to the judgmental look on their faces, this gossip will be thick tomorrow morning.

Shichiro followed along-side Sakura and the two of them strolled in synchronization across the large convention hall. Everything about their presence together made people turn their heads. Their demeanor suggested power and confidence, but at the same time possessed a relaxed air of comfort and warmth. People moved aside to gawk as they continued their stroll to the balcony, bodyguards in tow.

Shichiro held the large glass door for Sakura as she continued to the balcony. He waved his men down, who were keen to follow them. It was just the two of them outside now.

Sakura walked up to the glass railing overlooking the city. She gave a silent regard for the beauty of the sparkling city from the balcony. The lights twinkled in excitement, taking away from the visibility of the stars that Sakura was so fond of back home. The wind began whipping Sakura's hair about her softly, she turned back to look at Shichiro.

He was also enjoying the view by the entrance of the balcony. Sakura stood gallantly in front of the glass railing overlooking the city... He was speechless just admiring her.

A long pause overtook them. She kinked her head over just to signal him next to her. He snapped out of his stupor, noticing she was waiting for him. He paced over towards her confidently.

"Well, now that we are alone is it okay if I can call you something less formal?" Shichiro suggested.

"Wow. First balcony conversation and we're now over here on a first name basis huh?" Sakura commented.

"This is like, third base where I'm from" He smiled with her.

"Then asking you to dance was far too abrupt then, my apologies" Sakura continued.

"We would have had to cancel your wedding" he chuckled "especially if you saw my dance moves."

Sakura threw her head back and laughed whole heartedly, placing her hand on her chest. He paused his laughter to look down at her hand. He slowly pulled it off of him, but the transfer was done. He sighed with concern and rubbed one of his eyes.

Sakura looked up at him with a cunning smile.

Shichiro admired her for a moment. The lights shining out from the hall illuminated Sakura's bright marble green eyes, causing it to glimmer. It cast a beautiful shadow on her face, highlighting her strong cheekbones.

"You,..uh" He struggled to catch his voice…

"You didn't tell me why you came here" he asked sincerely.

"And you can't expect me to believe that you came here for _that_ guy" he teased.

Sakura returned the smile.

"I'm here looking for my brother. Nomura told me he would help me find him so I followed him here" Sakura replied.

Shichiro shook his head, "wow. A brother huh?" he looked down at his hands nervously.

"Why do you think he would be here?" he asked.

"He was at the auction in the Mizugakure, the one Nomura told me that you were at." She said with a forward tone, trying to read his eyes.

"I don't remember a lot about that day. I was,…ergm..drunk. Everything happened so quickly." He coughed nervously and tried to find his words. Sakura could see he was having trouble lying, the chakra must have got to him. His face was getting increasingly more red.

"but um. Why was he ther.…I don't know…what- what did he look like, I may have seen him" he fumbled through his words, trying his best to cover his tongue-tied demeanor.

Sakura looked at the view out of the balcony as she considered how to best describe Sageki…

"He is about 5'8, lean, black hair, big blue eyes. Pretty dorky looking smile and a wreck-less sense of confidence about him" she laughed as she stared off into the city lights.

Shichiro stood with a jealous expression on his face. He also looked out into the city before catching Sakura's attention again.

"No, excuse me. How do you expect _anyone_ to believe that your brother looks absolutely nothing like you?" Shichiro huffed at Sakura. She wasn't expecting that reaction. That was quite some amount of chakra she transferred over to him, apparently.

"You can just tell me honestly, Sakura. You got a knack for chasing after boys that leave you, what did this guy do to you?" Shichiro said after finishing his entire champagne cup and tossing it off the balcony.

Sakura's eyes were wide in shock. She kept her eyes locked with Shichiro.

"Have we met before? You seem to think you know a lot about me, and to be honest I'm pretty offended. I've never!" Sakura barked. She took all the bracelets and necklaces off her, then she stepped out of her heels. She was ready to fight.

"Oh no your right, you usually send your little pet fox to get your men for you right? Where is he? How come he's not here?" Snapped Shichiro. His face was at a red now, drunk off seduction chakra.

"Go get your goddamn fox and get the hell out of here _right now_! I was trying to be nice but you need to get the hell out of here" yelled Shichiro.

Sakura immediately reached out and grabbed Shichiro around the neck, gripping him tight.

"How-Who are you?!" she yelled in a threatening manner. "Where is Sageki!?" She threw her fist back ready to strike a punch.

He was out of her grip and behind her in the blink of an eye, his speed was unnatural. Sakura knew something was off about him. She immediately threw an elbow behind her, where Shichiro would've been-if he hadn't dodged. She spun around with a round house kick as he ducked. She tried to follow with a quick knee to the stomach- he deflected it and yelled "OOF" when her knee connected with his block. She hurried to counter his block with a series of punches, hooks and elbows. He was stepping backward, blocking each blow she threw at him, each as painful as the one before. She stopped in a fighting stance when they reached the end of the balcony.

Shichiro's guards ran out into the balcony in a hurry. Sakura glanced over at them, four large men. She eyed Shichiro, "you should be the one to talk about getting another man to do your work for you."

Shichiro addressed the gaurds, "be sure you get her far away from here. The show's going to start any moment now, I'm going back inside" Shichiro demanded as he began un-cuffing the wrists of his button up shirt. He glared at Sakura after assessing the damage to the back of his forearms, heavily bruised and swollen from blocking. Sakura returned the glare.

"I'm not done with you. You will tell me where Sageki is, or I will kill you _and_ all your men." Sakura threatened. The men started to walk over to Sakura as Shichiro disregarded her threat.

One of the guards reached over to Sakura and she jabbed upward at his elbow, dislocating it. She twirled around- elbowing him in the face. Reaching inside his coat pocket, she grabed his large hidden knife in her hands. Another guard tried to come up behind her.

He grabbed the back of her neck and she quickly thrusted the knife behind her, stabbing him in the chest. Pulling it out, his grip loosened on her neck and she continued with a strong back kick, tossing him along the railing of the balcony.

She returned her gaze back to the original attacker, who was kneeling on the ground screaming as he held his irregularly bent arm in pain. She did an aerial over him to gain momentum, before sending out a furry of spinning kicks over to the third guard. Three of her kicks successfully hit him across the temple before he hunched over in pain holding his head. Sakura drop kicked the man along the spine of his neck, paralyzing him before causing him to slam into the ground with a quake. She got back into her fighting position, holding the knife.

Shichiro had already walked back indoors into the event. The fourth guard stayed close to the entrance, knife drawn. Sakura could see the beads of sweat running down the guard's forehead as he stood nervously in an attacking position. Sakura rolled her eyes and got out of her fighting stance. She knew he wouldn't attack, instead she threw the knife straight in between the man's eyes. He dodged to the right, barely in time as the knife grazed his ear. By the time he caught his footing again, Sakura was already at his right flank. She down kicked all her force on his dominant knee and heard the loud crack as he crumbled underneath his broken leg with a scream.

She looked around at the four defeated men on the floor screaming in pain. Her natural instinct was to heal them, but she told herself she would let the blood bath occur uninhibited by those thoughts. It was time for her bloodlust to finally take over, it would be the ticket to getting Sageki back. She decided to enjoy herself today.

Sakura stood with a confident grin as she looked back to the convention hall. Everyone indoor near the glass had seen what Sakura did. The screams of horror from inside were apparent without being able to hear them from the balcony. Sakura began walking for the door way to enter again. Everyone inside began trying to run away as rows of bodyguards arrived at the doorway to fight Sakura.

The body guards withdrew various swords, kunai, large fans, chained balls and various weapons. Looks like these were rogue ninjas now working for hire. A smile escaped Sakura's lips as a stream of chakra began to glow from her fists. This is what she was waiting for.

Suddenly, from the other side of the hall, a large explosion went off. Everyone turned to look at the explosion once the debris settled.

Standing in front of the crowd was none other than the Akatsuki.

Tobi, Kisame, Konan, Nagato, Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karen.

All dressed in their black Akatsuki cloaks, they took in the view of the crowd. Nagato began to speak as a hush of pure fear came over the crowd…

"You've all been brought here as the tyrannical leaders of this lawless underworld. A sickness that has plagued this country for far too long under the safety of the late Orochimaru. We are here to cure this land of the its disease. It will be joined with the land of rain under the supervision of our winged savior" he spoke out.

"Consider your deaths not as a loss, but a sacrifice for the healing of a dying country" he said before nodding to Konan. She summoned a couple thousand sheets of paper to hover over the people and begin attacking them. Each of the Akatsuki members dispersed among the crowd to start picking them off. Panic ensued as everyone scattered about trying to dodge the ongoing attacks. Few were trying to fight back, including Sakura.

Karen, Suigetsu and Juugo ran to the displays of the artifacts that were to be placed for auction. They went down the line one by one trying to find something.

Tobi's laughter could be heard throughout the halls as he appeared to be teleporting about stabbing and slashing anyone fighting back against the white papers. All the exits were closed and it was indeed a massacre, just not how Sakura pictured it.

The papers with jamming deep into Sakura like needles. She was getting out of breath, dodging and attacking the little white papers. Everyone around her way trying to fight back but struggling. She decided to make a sprint for the balcony door. Just before she could reach it, a sharp pain overcame her. She could no longer run. She looked down to see she was impaled by a large sword. The pain was immense.

She turned her head behind her to see that the culprit was one of the Akatsuki members, Tobi. He was giggling behind her as he held the sword that was currently jammed through her abdomen. Sakura collected all her chakra into her fist and she swung around to deliver a powerful hook into Tobi's head.

Tobi released the sword as he went flying into the crowd behind him.

Sakura looked down, shocked at all the blood she was suddenly losing. She collected chakra into her abdomen, healing it as she slid the sword out from behind her. The papers kept bombarding her with attacks as she did her best to heal.

Tobi was not pleased with the crack in the corner of his mask. He got up, giving a dark and insidious glare at Sakura. He started walking toward her with murderous intent, the laughs were off.

Sakura held the bloody sword in a defensive stance, giving it a boost of neon blue chakra to boost it with power. She swung the sword in her hand to judge its weight and speed. Satisfied with her assessment, she lunged at Tobi who was making his way to her with a great charge of power.

The speed of their attacks were uncanny. Sakura dodged, blocked and countered with precision- but very few of her strikes were landing. They passed right through Tobi at times. Other attacks would connect for a moment before he would turn translucent again. Sakura thought that he had to land a blow on her by disabling his transparency for a moment. She decided to take a direct hit so that she could strike at the same time and connect thoroughly.

Sakura brought down her defense on purpose, providing a clear opening for Tobi. He lashed out a powerful punch right on Sakura's face before noticing her sword digging right in between his neck and shoulder.

Getting tossed hard into the ground with Tobi's punch, Sakura lost her consciousness for a split second. She lost her sword and opened her eyes to see Tobi was already standing next to her holding it …bleeding from the neck with his Sharingan activated on her.

Sakura gasped as the Sharingan caught her eye. She was wide-eyed frozen on the ground, bleeding from her abdomen and covered in the million paper stabs that persisted throughout the battle.

Sakura tried to sit up while she glared at him, she was focusing her chakra on healing and getting ready for his next attack- hoping she could survive it.

Tobi rose the sword up to bring down on her, she never flinched. The sword shot straight through her upper abdomen, right between her breasts. He enjoyed the crackling sound of Sakura's gurgles as she kept glaring at him. He pulled the sword out and brought it up again to deliver the final blow.

In that moment, it was deflected by another sword coming from somewhere behind Sakura. The loud chirp of electricity snapped the sword out of Tobi's hands. It flew to the right of them, as Tobi stood in shock.

Sakura looked up to see something that could only be described as a blood-loss-induced hallucination.

Above her, in his Akatsuki cloak, was a defensive Uchiha Sasuke. With his sword drawn, he shook his head at Tobi, deathly angry. Tobi made an annoyed face as he pointed to the gash in his neck. Sasuke stood his ground, glaring. He sent a currant of electricity to his sword to warn Tobi he was serious. Tobi could only scoff before walking away to pick up his sword and teleport off.

"I told you to get out of here about three times already Sakura", Sasuke spat at her with an irritated tone. He put the sword back in its sheath before bending down to her.

He tried to help lift her up by gripping her upper arm. He began swatting away the little white papers impaled on her shoulders and back as she tried to find her footing to stand. Sakura leaned her weight on Sasuke and he gripped her waist securely to him. Her clothes were tattered and completely soiled in blood. He looked down at her bleeding abdomen and noticed the flickering green chakra.

The papers continued flying down to pierce her, they were still attacking everyone at the event who wasn't Akatsuki. She was having trouble focusing her healing from the persistent stabs. He swatted away a few of the papers from their attacks but grew irritated.

Sakura gurgled a cough out, streaming blood down her mouth.

Sasuke lifted his Akatsuki cloak with his arm and tucked Sakura under the protection of its cover. The white papers stopped attacking her and she began to shine a bright green light on her abdomen. Sasuke peered down at her in his cloak with concern.

Juugo appeared behind them, unable to notice Sakura, and addressed Sasuke, "we don't see any of the relics that you were describing. I think it's not here again."

Sasuke turned his head back and directed Juugo, "Go back there and tell them to smash all the relics. The map might be in one of them. I'm going to head back now, I'll leave this to you."

Juugo nodded and ran back to team Taka without asking questions.

Sasuke looked down at his injured Sakura again, her weight was getting heavier on him and the green chakra was growing dimmer. Sakura was fighting to keep her eyes open, she could feel her chakra waning from blood loss. Sasuke appeared a bit confused as to why Sakura was a lot heavier than he expected…

A small 'Tsch' could be heard coming out of Sasuke's mouth. He pulled out his sword then started cutting off the heavy blood-soaked dress Sakura had on. She stood stained in blood with her black booty shorts and mesh tube strap bra, shivering under his cloak. He put his sword back into its sheath. He leaned down to sweep her knees up and cradle her, enveloping her in his cloak while her head rested on his shoulder.

She looked up at him with shock, it was hard to keep her eyes open. His black eyes caught hers, she could see the worry in them.

"Just focus on healing yourself, I'll get you out of here" Sasuke whispered to her as he headed for the balcony.


	16. Chapter 16

Sakura jolted awake in bed. She attempted to take a deep breath as a cold sweat overcame her, but she was choking. She sat up in bed trying to gasp for air in a panic. She had an immense urge to cough out something lodged deep within her. The room around her was complete darkness, she had nothing nearby to grab except the bedsheets. She fisted a handful of bed sheets, squeezing them as she painfully tried to force a cough. It was unspeakable pain and fright, unsure if she was going to get a breath of air after all her effort. After what seemed like an eternity of pushing, she could feel something tugging out from her throat. A cough suddenly emerged and she finally was able to inhale a gasped repetitively, taking in shallow breaths like a fish out of water. Her right rib stung with such an intense sharp pain during each inhale.

Immediately she felt movement next to her! Worry overcame her but she was so occupied with trying to breath that she couldn't focus. The distress was overwhelming.

A hand slid up her back, she turned in shock to see who was next to her, all she could make out was a dark figure. She kept gasping as she clung her hands to her own throat.

"Cough it up, Sakura."

It undoubtedly Sasuke's voice!

He was quickly up sitting next to her, leaning over her shoulder and patting her back firmly. Sakura grabbed his knee and squeezed it. It was painful. The strong patting was beginning to dislodge the object in her throat. Her coughing suddenly began to get more forceful. She felt like her progress was coming undone-she couldn't breathe again.

Sasuke scooted away from her. Sakura she reached out for him, in a panic. She patted the empty bed next to her, searching further and further for his knee as he disappeared. A deeper frenzy set in Sakura. The involuntary hacking contractions were getting violent now as the pain from the cough was unbearable. Sakura tried to heal herself but the pain and adrenaline was overriding all her focus to conjure chakra. She continued patting the bed around her, looking for Sasuke.

A light came on.

Sakura looked over to the light source and saw Sasuke turning on a bedside table lamp. He was shirtless and held a towel with old blood stains on in. Sakura gave him a terrified look as she grabbed her own throat. Alarmed, Sasuke jumped on the bed to her side as he placed the towel in front of her. He kneeled right next to her, holding the towel to her face. Using his other hand to comb her hair away from her face before resuming to pat her back again.

Sakura felt like he was shaking out a substance from deep within her. It was ungodly painful as she felt it slowly coming up. She held a tight grip on Sasuke's thigh.

Pulling her head away from the towel, Sakura threw her head back and finally caught a deep breath of fresh air. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the towel to see a pile of blood connected to a long string of blood coming from her mouth.

"No no no. Keep coughing. It's not out yet" Sasuke instructed her.

Sakura looked up at him bewildered as she held her mouth open, the blood hanging from her lips. He had no idea how painful this was!

"I know, but you _will_ feel better once you get it all out" Sasuke promised her, almost as though he was answering her thoughts.

Sakura glanced back down at the towel and tried to lean forward and cough. It wasn't budging. She grabbed the long string of blood with her hand and started pulling on it as Sasuke continued to pat her back. She could feel it pulling deep within her, from her lungs. This was a giant blood clot?! Her gagging reflex kicked into a violently coughing fit. She hunched over and vomited all the blood out...she finally expelled it all out onto the towel.

Sasuke rubbed her back in a circular motion as she threw her head back, inhaling very deeply. She never felt so happy to just simply breathe, her lungs felt as big as the ocean. She looked up at Sasuke, who was stilling kneeling next to her, and gave him a thankful smile. He returned the favor with a rare and beautiful warm smile.

After a few moments of trying to stabilize her breathing with some deep moans, Sakura's felt like she was returning to normal. There was a lingering pain, but it didn't compare to what she had just endured. Sasuke stopped rubbing her back and took the towel that held the large blood clot. He stepped off the bed with it in hand and left the room without saying a word. Sakura eyed him as he walked off to another room, he was indeed shirtless, she was not hallucinating that part. The lighting from the small bedside table really highlighted his muscles well as he walked away… Sakura felt pleasantly confused.

Sakura took the opportunity of being alone to look around the room.

Actually, where on earth was she? She had never been here before.

She was sitting on the right side of a large bed. At each side of the bed was a small table with a lamp and some books. There was a large bookcase on the wall facing the bed which was completely covered in disorganized scrolls, books, and papers. The door that Sasuke went through was on the left of this bookcase. Must be a bathroom, Sakura thought to herself as she heard running water.

To Sakura's immediate right was a wall with a long table against it, also covered in books and papers. To her left there was a good amount of empty space for walking, a large dresser against a far wall and a big door against the left corner of the wall.

The walls were strange- a dark tan color, almost like cement. The floors were made of hard and flat cobbled rocks. The dim yellow lighting from the table lamp made the room look dramatic, yet charming. It reminded her of an old man's study room mixed into a bedroom. She appreciated the vibe, it was cozy. Although she normally feels claustrophobic when a room has no windows. She turned her head to see what was behind her.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt. At the head of the bed hung one of the largest calligraphy scrolls Sakura had ever seen, almost taking up most of the wall! A large huge uchiha fan drawn boldly in the middle, to the left was a beautiful lettering of the clan name- Uchiha. Sakura's heart dipped down to her feet. She realized where she now was. She had trouble breathing again and turned back quickly to face the door Sasuke disappeared into- but she let out a sharp yell. She felt a stabbing pain in her right rib when she turned.

She clutched her rib but something was in the way. She looked down in disbelief as a long tube was sticking out of her chest from between her ribs to a jar on the floor. Her chest was banded up with white gauze. The gauze tightened down the chest tube in place while it simultaneously covered her breasts.

Shock overcame Sakura's face. She threw the bed sheets off of her legs in a hurry and sighed with relief when she saw that she still had her black shorts on. Unfortunately, her legs were completely crusted over in dried blood. She examined her arms to find that they were as well! She must reek of death. She tried to sniff her forearm and looked up to catch Sasuke at the foot of the bed watching her.

She made eye contact with him and froze. She tried to act casual. Darting her gaze away from him and scanning the room innocently, her eyes to betrayed her as they uncontrollably landed on his bare chest. A blush came over her as she tried to look away. Sasuke silently chuckled to himself as he tossed a small moist towel on her face.

"You've got blood all over your face" he teased. She was glad for the towel, it was covering her blush.

She rubbed her face with it then looked down to see it had taken off a good deal of dried blood. She looked back over at Sasuke who was currently climbing under the sheets next to Sakura. The blood rushed to her face again and she decided to keep rubbing her face with the towel to hide herself.

"The clots will keep coming unless you keep healing yourself Sakura" Sasuke commented to her, "I suggest you heal until you fall asleep and wake up to do it all over again"

She took the towel off her face and looked over at him lying down next to her.

"Why are you helping me?" Sakura asked him frankly. They both gazed at each other in silence for a moment. Her question implied the that they were no longer friends, but instead enemies. Why was he pretending not to acknowledge their role as enemies? Sasuke paused and exhaled in annoyance at the question.

He lifted his arms up in defeat then he tucked them behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Sakura rolled her eyes and looked away from him, his muscles were too exposed for her to focus on anything at the moment. She tried to keep busy by wiping the blood from her forearms, ignoring his silence.

"This is what we always do, Sakura" Sasuke said.

Sakura paused in the middle of her scrub. Sasuke had mustered the words tenderly out of his mouth after much consideration. The hurt behind his words were hidden, but not well enough for Sakura miss it. He was hurt that she thought of him as an enemy. She stared at the towel for a moment and pressed it to her face again, hiding the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. The silence in the room was heavy and dragged on.

"Does the tube still hurt?" Sasuke asked to break the silence. Sakura pulled the towel away from her face to reply, "it's nothing compared to passing that blood clot. I can't explain how terrible that was".

"You're lucky he missed your heart" Sasuke chirped, "because I completely skipped over the 'open heart surgery in your bedroom' book" he said trying to lighten the air...

"Really? That's a shame.I really enjoyed that book" Sakura said sarcastically. "It should be mandatory reading for a heart breaker like yourself" she added with a grin.

She could hear Sasuke give a genuine chuckle at the comment.

Sakura paused to admire her chest tube, the other end was expertly tied into a jar next to the bed with water in it. She had almost forgotten how smart Sasuke was, he was a prodigy before anything else. She snickered to herself when she remembered how she was always fighting for his spot as the smartest in class. Sasuke didn't have any healing powers but his beautiful mind more than makes up for what he lacks. Sakura smiled in appreciation of Sasuke. Without this chest tube, without his quick thinking, Sakura wouldn't have made it through the night…She would have drowned in her own blood.

"How would you rate my chest tube, doctor?" Sasuke asked as he watched Sakura examine herself.

Sakura tried not to smirk at Sasuke's playful intonation. That was the same smart-ass tone he had since they were kids. She couldn't imagine the day had come when he would be addressing her as doctor.

"It's actually pretty impressive" she genuinely responded.

"Is this your first one?" Sakura asked, turning over to see his smug smile. He was basking in the compliment, Sakura could tell he took his time answering her so that he could savor the moment. She grinned at him. She couldn't see a hint of evil in him at the moment… Whoever that man was who committed all those atrocities, he was nowhere in sight. Right now, she was with her old teammate and they were just two kids- sharing in the good times again.

"It's my first one on someone else. I've had to do it to myself twice now" Sasuke told her as he took an arm out from behind his head and pointed to a scar on his rib. Careful not to disrupt her tube, she laid down on her left side facing Sasuke and propped her head up on her arm. It was fun to watch him light up with enthusiasm about something.

Sakura could clearly see the scar from where she was, but leaned in closer to get a better look at his chest. If she didn't know better, she almost caught a blush on his face.

"wow. That looks like it was a big tube" commented Sakura, trying to act unimpressed.

"I passed 5 blood clots and it took one week for this one to heal" Sasuke boasted. Sakura gave a surprised expression, but before she could comment Sasuke was eager to go on.

"Look at this one" he quickly pointed to a long white scar down his left abdomen that continued below his pant line, "this was from the biggest, oldest, ugliest snake that ever lived. He was 4 stories tall! His fang went almost completely through me. It took 50 stitches and 2 days of surgery, but the poison was the worst part." Sakura gulped as she reached out her hand to graze the scars across at his abs with her fingertips. He was indeed covered with them.

"A-Aoda was very grateful. You'll meet him later" he added.

"You know" she said timidly, "I can heal your scars once I finish regenerating, Sasuke" she said looking up at his face. His black eyes set on hers. Sakura could see them stirring in such small movements, he was scanning her…His eyes trailed down to her hand on his abdomen. The air changed from playful to intense again.

"I don't mind the scars" he said trying to look away from her. Sakura sense feel how tense he got. She decided to pull her hand away from him and place it on the bed.

"If you wanted to…I wouldn't refuse" he mumbled with his head turned away from her,

"You should heal yourself and get some rest first" he commented in a serious tone as he turned his gaze away from her.

"Soo…uh…quick question before you go back to sleep" Sakura began to ask. Before she could rest, needed answers to something that would keep her up all night-Probably more than any other thing in this entire overwhelming scenario. She leaned her head toward him until she was inches away from him. She knew Sasuke's true feelings were crypted in every little movement he made. She moved in close because she couldn't afford to miss a single expression on his face when she asked him,

"Where is my bra?"

Sasuke paused with stunned eyes. He raised his eyebrow at the question. His mouth slowly opened and his eyes moved upward, trying to think of something. Nothing. There was an even longer pause.

Sakura locked eyes with him as he struggled to respond, moving his eyes across the room. She could see him replaying the memory in his head.

Still no response.

Sakura pursed her lips and started to glare at him. She saw the slightest hint of fear overcome Sasuke's expression. Without breaking eye contact, he decided to slowly reach his arm out and turn off the lamp next to him. Pitch darkness again.

"Sasuke!" Sakura scowled.

"Heal yourself" Sasuke remarked indifferently as he turned his back to her.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura's eyes opened. After a long quiet night of using up all her healing chakra, she had fallen asleep peacefully on her back. The dim bedside lamp was on and she looked around the room slowly until her eyes caught the sight of the big Uchiha scroll above her head. A rush of warmth overtook her...She was still in Sasuke's room. She couldn't tell if it was day or night, or how long she had been asleep, but it didn't seem to matter.

Sasuke was asleep next to her, closer than before. His head was turned towards her as he slumbered peacefully with a book on his chest.

He looked almost angelic. Sakura entertained herself thoroughly by simply watching him. She committed every detail to memory, in case she wouldn't get any more opportunities like this the rest of her life. It was easy to see why life was worth living when Sasuke was around, everything seemed better.

She even felt bad at the extent in which she was enjoying herself. She had to keep reminding herself that she had to leave soon to find Sageki. She felt like she could have taken the tube out already, but she was in no rush to be on her way.

She considered what it would be like to go back to Konoha after this...She couldn't wait to tell Naruto all about her time with Sasuke, he would be so pleased to hear that he hadn't changed much in their time apart. There was still hope.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the bedroom.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he let out a gasp. Sakura was startled by Sasuke's quick reaction. He immediately jumped out of bed as he heard the door open, he grabbed the mattress and tossed it over, flipping it to the floor- taking Sakura with it. She let out a scream as the tube dislodged from her chest, making her breathing erratic again. This must be bad news Sakura thought to herself, listening from underneath the mattress.

"S-sasuke!" a woman's voice could be heard coming from the door.

"KAREN!" sasuke responded in an angry tone.

"What are you doing suddenly coming into my room!?" he growled at her.

"We were all worried about you, we all came to see if you needed some healing!" Karen tried to explain.

Jugo commented, "I worried you were depressed..."

Suigetsu's voice suddenly jumped into the conversation, "on top of that, I've been hearing a woman's moans through the wall at night!"

"W-W-W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING SUIGESTU!?" Karen screamed out in horror.

"I even heard it just a second ago!" Suigetsu brashly shouted out before adding, "on top of that why are you half naked?!"

A loud sound of water splashing against the wall was heard by Sakura.

"WHOEVER tries to open my room again will be killed on sight without any hesitation." Sasuke snapped.

"If you want to make yourselves useful just leave food outside the door!" he scolded them before slamming the door.

Sakura was trying to stay quiet during the argument and heal herself underneath the mattress. The weight of it lifted and she looked up to see Sasuke holding out his hand to help her up. Sakura's breathing was sporadic as she was trying to heal herself, she grabbed Sasuke's hand to stand up. She was hyperventilating between soft moans of pain.

"Sakura,..." he looked down at her in apology.

"It's okay Sasuke" she said in between rapid breaths.

He let her lean on him as she clutched the hole where the tube had been. He placed his hand on her back as he watched her try to stabilize herself.

"I can still hear you two in there!" shouted out Suigetsu as he banged against the bedroom door.

Sakura looked up at Sasuke with a worried look. Sasuke just shook his head, "ignore him, no one will believe him...He's just our pet fish."

Sakura peered past Sasuke's shoulders to glance at the closed door. She remained silent now, taking in long deeps breaths as she was almost finished healing up the wound.

She looked up at Sasuke and he returned her glance for a second before quickly turning his head away.

"Sakura,..." a blush grew on his face. He let go of her back and kneeled down to grab a book scattered on the floor. He abruptly handed it to Sakura with his face turned turned to the wall, waiting for her to take it.

Sakura looked at it confused. Her breathing was feeling much better now as she read aloud the title,"The great war expanded through history"...? She grabbed the book and looked at the back to read the synopsis. A moment had passed, but Sakura still couldn't figure out what the book had to do with anything.

Sasuke was startled when he turned his head to notice she was reading the book.

"SAKURA!" he said exacerbated, taking the book away from her and opening it up. He turned the book over and placed it on her chest. Sakura froze in confusion.

She looked down to notice that her gauze had fallen off. The only thing covering her was the book that Sasuke was holding against her chest. Sakura stopped healing herself and took the book in her own hands.

"S-sorry Sasuke" she mumbled out as he leaned back to sit on the side table of the bed. His head hung in the air looking at the floor as he held his forehead with one hand.

"...are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine. Just...a little light headed" he responded with a guilty tone. Sakura gave him a moment to recuperate himself but she felt very awkward standing in his room wearing mostly just a book and her black shorts.

"Not to impose but,..are there any clothes I could possibly borrow?" Sakura asked shyly.

Without looking up at her, Sasuke pointed at the dresser next to the bedroom door.

"Okay. I hope you don't mind if I help myself then…" Sakura whispered to herself as she tiptoed over to the dresser.

Sasuke stood up and decided to flip the mattress back to its original position while Sakura made herself decent. He worked very slowly, doing his best to look away from her.

Sakura couldn't find clothes that weren't stained in blood or filled with holes. She kept digging around and finally found a clean big white shirt, the same one Sasuke wore when she first saw him in Orochimaru's hideouts. Sakura pulled her arms through each of the sleeves and examined it. It was quite airy, a large opening down the middle, exposing the bare flesh between her breasts and abdomen all the way down to her black shorts. The white sheer also made it easy to see the outline of her nipples through the fabric. Sakura stood up and examined herself in it.

"Are there any other shirts besides these white ones?" Sakura began saying as she turned around to see what else Sasuke could suggest from his wardrobe.

Sasuke was standing next to his desk, nervously trying to organize a giant pile of papers. He turned to face Sakura. His mouth quietly opened as he stared at her, eyes wide. A small groan escaped his mouth before he tried to lean on the desk chair next to him. Completely missing the chair, Sasuke caught himself by clutching the desk next to him. He jolted up to lean against it, giving her another good stare.

Sakura was bewildered by Sasuke acting clumsy. She never knew him to be anything but stoic. This was a new side of him that Sakura had never met before...Maybe because they were always just kids? This was their first time spent together after becoming teenagers. She was tickled at the idea that Sasuke could be swayed by sexual matters now that he was grown.

"so...this is too much huh?" Sakura said with a smile.

"Well, it _is_ one way to distract your opponent" Sasuke shrugged.

"Are you thoroughly distracted?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrow seductively.

Sasuke froze as though his heart had stopped.

Sakura gave a sincere laugh, "I'm just playing". Judging by his reaction, she was right- he was a hot mess of hormones.

She turned back to the dresser to look at another drawer for anything else more suitable. Sure to bend over with her legs straight and her back arched down.

"Look in the bottom left corner, there's some old clothes there that might fit you..." Sasuke said with his hand over his mouth.

After digging around, she finally found the perfect shirt. It was his old blue uchiha shirt he wore every day when they were kids. She pulled it out with excitement, but soon saddened to see it in shambles. The bottom was torn and the neck hood was scorched.

She looked back at Sasuke who was sitting on the chair just staring at her, covering his mouth. She held up the shirt, asking for permission. He gave her a nod. Without thinking, Sakura started to take the white shirt off. Sasuke quickly turned his gaze to the floor.

"I hope you're not always this reckless" Sasuke muttered to himself gripping the chair tighter.

"How does it look?" Sakura asked. Sasuke looked up to see Sakura wearing his blue tattered shirt, mimicking his annoyed face with her arms on her hips.

"You're annoying!", she declared in a mimicking tone while she pointed at the door.

"I'll burn everything to the ground!" She continued making the Katon Goukakyuu no jitsu hand signals, pretending to breathe fire.

Sasuke couldn't hold back his chuckle as he stood up, grabbing the sword by his desk as he approached her. Sakura glanced over at him once she heard his laugh, but froze when she saw he was getting close to her with his sword in hand.

"It was just a joke!" Sakura shouted out with her hands up. She grimaced as he stood in front of her.

He grabbed the scorched collar and began to cut it with his sword, careful not to cut Sakura. He continued by trimming the bottom of the shirt where it was tattered.

Sakura felt a poke on her forehead and she opened her eyes.

Looking down, the blue shirt was now collarless, with the top opening big enough to hang off her shoulder a little. The bottom of the shirt was cut to her rib line, exposing her midriff.

Sasuke grabbed the purple cloth that he wore across his waist and took it off.

"I've got lots of these..." he quietly commented to her before she could refuse.

He sliced it in half and continued to tie a half of it around Sakura's waist.

He looked down at his creation in consideration…

"How does it look?" She asked with happiness is her eyes and a thankful smile. She felt as though she was being given a rare gift. He grinned at her before asking her to turn around by waving his finger in a circular motion at her.

Sakura slowly turned around until she felt a pat on her back.

"It suits you well" Sasuke said with his hand on her back, where the Uchiha symbol was. Sakura felt a warm flush come over her...she understood. With no words to convey how honored she was, she waited until she heard Sasuke walk back to his desk to set his sword down. She turned around to watch him try to continue organizing his desk.

"Thank you very much...I'll try to return the clothes to you someday" Sakura told him.

"Someday?" Sasuke asked as he paused from organizing his desk.

"Yes, I have to go back to my mission...then back to Konoha" Sakura said. "...I can't thank you enough. Your help was" Sakura tried to continue but was quickly cut off by Sasuke.

"What was your mission, getting killed? Why were you at the land of sound?" He turned to her with a serious tone. Sakura was startled for a moment at his change in character.

"If I hadn't rescued you, you would be dead-" Sasuke turned to her with an wise face, "or even worse, married!" Sasuke continued.

Sakura stood silently in shame.

"I gave you so many warnings. I gave you a genjitsu. I blew apart your ship. I warned you many times at the auction! You ignored me each time I tried to get you to turn around and go home. You ended up almost bleeding to death on the floor" Sasuke slammed his fist on the desk.

Sakura's eyes were big, realization hit her hard.

"the-the boat? that was you?" Sakura whispered in confusion, "...you warned me at the auction?" she asked in disbelief.

"Consider your mission finished, Sakura. They will all think you died at the slaughter. It's better this way" Sasuke commented in a cold manner.

She held a sturdy look as slowly tears rolled down her cheeks. To him, she was just another 'annoying' thing in his path, not even a threat worthy of fighting. He didn't rescue her out of kindness, he kidnapped her so that she wouldn't get in his way. It hurt her that he didn't think she had changed since they were genin. She was still helpless Sakura, waiting to be saved.

Somehow, she had to show him that she wasn't helpless...Logically, she knew she had improved enormously, but she wasn't a match for him though. Him and Naruto were on such different levels from everyone else- how could anyone compare to them? Speed? Stamina? She _did_ keep up with his racing through the mizugakure before he put her under his genjitsu. Maybe it was enough to get out of his grasp.

She stopped and searched his gaze for a moment as he considered his own words...Would he attack her if she made a run for it? She wasn't planning on being held prisoner here. It didn't seem like he was going to let her go...She had the map in her head, she already knew where she needed to go. Sageki might just be waiting for her there...If she could just make it out of here- maybe she could outrun Sasuke.

Sakura tensed up, watching a stone-cold Sasuke glance back at her from across the room. She dodged his glance and peered at the door next to her. By the time she looked back to Sasuke he already noticed her plan.

"Sakura don't!" he shouted to her, but it was too late. Sakura was already sprinting out the door and Sasuke was on his feet chasing after her. Sakura slammed the door behind her as she took off down a hall.

She didn't have time to think, she just had to follow the halls as fast as she could in any direction, hoping not to get caught.

Sasuke opened the door and jolted out with immense speed and power. He slammed into the wall in front of the doorway and slipped as he tried to catch his footing down the hallway after Sakura.

Sakura raced as fast as her feet could carry her, kicking off the walls of sharp corners to keep her speed up. Sasuke was not far behind in full sprint. This place was also a maze, just like Orochimaru's other hideouts.

Sprinting past a few hallways and a couple corners, Sakura decided to turn into a large double door, hoping it would lead outside. BANG! She kicked the door open to find it was an enormous kitchen. She paused for a split second to catch the shocked face of Suigetsu as he was making a mess trying to cook something.

Suigetsu froze as he watched the pink haired girl in the Uchiha shirt and tight black shorts sprint out the kitchen down to the mess hall. Seconds behind her flew in Sasuke in a blatant panic. Shirtless and angry, he looked at Suigetsu before shouting out- "don't just stand there!"

"I KNEW there was a girl!" Suigetsu screamed out eagerly as Sasuke sprinted out the kitchen.

Sakura ran through the mess hall and kicked down the door to another large hallway.

She saw someone walking away from her down the hall. Sakura sprinted in their direction, it was a red-headed girl. Before the red head could turn around, Sakura jumped into an open room.

It was a laboratory with a large table in the middle-full of beakers and papers. Each wall was covered in large shelves of lab supplies and bottled substances. There seemed to be an opening to the left corner of the room! Sakura turned the corner only to catch herself at a dead end. Unable to stop in time, she collided with a bucket on the floor and a stream of oily goo poured over her as she fell to her back. She looked down in disgust.

"SASUKE! What are you doing in my- GAAAHH" She heard a girl scream outside the room.

Sakura hurried to her feet and grabbed the bucket with the rest of the goo in it. She heard Sasuke approaching the corner and she tossed the bucket as hard as she could at him. A BANG was heard as the bucket knocked him on his back.

Hitting his chest and covering him in goo, Sasuke slid straight into the shelf in front of him. Everything came down on him with a loud crash.

Sakura winced as she saw the damage. The same red haired woman ran in and immediately tried to get the shelf off of Sasuke.

Sakura used this chance to bolt out the room, giving her a head start.

She continued running back to the hall in the opposite direction she started running in.

There stood Suigetsu with a latel standing in front of the doors of the mess hall.

"Oiy! Stop right there, this is no place-" Suigetsu tried to scold Sakura as she ran at him in full speed. She pressed chakra into her fist as she landed a punch on Suigetsu, splattering water everywhere. Unsure of what just happened, Sakura didn't hesitate to continue running, she looked back for a split moment. Sasuke was already up and following her down the hall, jumping over the puddle of water on the floor.

Sakura continued sprinting until she passed a hallway with a small hole carved out at a dead end. From the hole, a little bit of light shone through. She turned around and ran into the dead end hallway. Sasuke turned the corner into the hallway close enough to swipe at her, missing.

Sakura punched the wall with great strength, forcing it to collapse around her as she continued her run. Amongst the shambles, Sasuke leaped and caught Sakura by the waist- slamming her into the floor.

Sucessfully breaking through the wall, they were out of the cave now, on a mountain terrain. The clouds above them were dark and pouring rain onto them. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's waist as he pinned her to the ground, being covering in slime and rain- she was slippery. Sakura had no difficulty turning herself over to deliver a critical hit to Sasuke's bare ribs. The air escaped him and a loud crack was heard. He slammed into the ground next to Sakura, breaking the ground up beneath him.

She tried to cover her face in shock as she silently watched Sasuke lay on the broken ground for a moment. He groaned and slowly started to get up.

Sakura sighed in relief and took off sprinting again.

She made it pretty far, losing sight of Sasuke behind her. She sprinted down the side of the mountain, looking over to the large city far to the left of her- it was undoubtably The land of rain, Amegakure.

How did Sasuke manage to get her all the way over here from the land of sound?! It didn't matter, she was closer now to the point in the map than she was before.

Sageki! Wait for me, I'm coming! She thought to herself, making it down the mountain. She hit a clearing and continued running. There was no sign of Sasuke anywhere, it was actually very quiet, she thought to herself.

In an instance, the sound of whipping lightening overcame her senses. She felt a sharp sting run up both her legs forcing her stop mid-run and slide onto the muddy ground. Sakura looked behind her to see Sasuke walking over to her, clenching his rib. His glare was apparent as his bright red sharingan stood out from the grey gloom of the clouds around him. Sakura tried to stand up but Sasuke quickly ran over to place his foot on her lower back forcefully. He bent over, leaning his head down to the back of Sakura's head as she refused to turn around and face him. She tried to fight his foot pressing her to the ground, but her legs were almost useless from the shock she just recieved.

He put his hand under her chin from behind her, gingerly guiding it up to face him.

"Look at me" he commanded.

Sakura kept her eyes closed stubbornly. Sasuke scoffed.

She tried to fight back until she felt the sharp pinch of a blade pressed along her back.

"Look at me" he repeated.

Sakura took a deep breath in, she knew she had no choice.

She opened her eyes slowly, accepting her fate.

His face was directly in front of hers, just centimeters away. She looked at his lips, unnecessarily close to hers.

"I'm glad you agree, this is a futile fight" he told her with a grin.

He squeezed her chin with his hand, "don't let me regret this" he whispered to her as a chill ran down her spine.

She looked up at his bright red sharingan before falling deep into his genjitsu.


	18. Chapter 18

Is the review button broken?

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After an hour surrounded in silent darkness, Sakura felt the genjitsu release. Her vision starting returning to her in a blurry manner. There was a lot of white around her, she appeared to be in a small room. She was lying on a cold floor and could hear running water close to her. Sasuke's voice could be heard talking to someone.

"You know they are going to be suspicious if they find her here right?" said an unknown voice.

"I don't care" Sasuke responded with an annoyed tone, "stay here and make sure she doesn't try anything again. The seal should help you. I'll be back in a few." The shaky figure of Sasuke could be seen walking out of the room. Sakura felt someone was next to her, she turned to her left to see a white-haired man crouching next to her, watching Sasuke leave. He turned to her and she jumped a little bit.

"Oiy oiy. Calm down. I'm Sasuke's friend, Suigetsu. He told me to make you take a bath...you're pretty filthy and you smell like you died 3 days ago" He joked.

Her vision cleared back to normal...Sakura turned her head to see that she was on a bathroom floor, leaning against a bathtub. She saw the warm water pouring into the tub and looked back at Suigetsu.

"Where's Sasuke?" she asked timidly.

"Doesn't matter princess, just take a shower" Suigetsu commented, trying to avoid the topic.

Sakura glared at him.

"I don't trust you. I don't know where he went" She remarked with distaste.

"You really? Wanna know?" Suigetsu said annoyed. Sakura nodded slowly. He paused, considering what to answer, but eventually decided on going with the usual— havok.

"He left to go see Karen" Suigetsu responded with a smug grin, hoping to start problems.

"Who?" Sakura asked puzzled.

"His lady friend, the red-head? She heals him. You know how that goes" he shrugged, implying a hidden meaning.

"No I don't. Explain it to me.." Sakura quickly retorted with jealousy blatantly lingering in her words.

"Well, better ask him yourself. I don't think it's my place to explain anything to you. I'm just here to heat up the bath for you and make sure you get in without destroying the place and getting us all killed." Suigetsu said as he stood up. He pointed to the towels on top of the sink.

"Towels there. Throw Sasuke's dirty clothes in the basket at the corner and I'll be outside if you try anything" Suigetsu started to walk out the bathroom. He closed the door giving her an evil grin.

Sakura scoffed to herself. If Sasuke really had a healer then why would be still be covered in scars? He's bluffing.

She sat against the bathtub pondering for a long while about the current situation….

In her argument with Sasuke before she raced out, Sasuke revealed that he destroyed the cargo ship, how could he have known about that if it wasn't true?

How did he find her at the auction? He said he had warned her, but they didn't even exchange two words at the auction… What on earth was that genjitsu about?

Sakura's thoughts were halted when the hot sensation of bath water ran down her back. She turned around to watch the tub overflow with water. Sakura bounced up to turn the faucet off. She looked over the enticing clear waters of the warm bath. Her pink hair was noticeably dark, caked with mud and blood. Her skin looked the same. As much as she hated to comply, she decided that a bath wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...

She stripped off her wet muddy clothes and tossed it into the basket before hopping into the warm water... It was truly invigorating.

Her muscles finally began to relax. Feeling comfortable, she grabbed a sponge and began scrubbing herself clean. She moved onward to her hair, which took quite a bit of time to detangle and rinse off ...the worst was mostly over. She continued on to her toes but it had caught her attention, the black marks along both her forearms. She stopped cleaning her toes to start scrubbing her arms viciously, but noticed the marks weren't coming off. She grew worried and held up both her arms next to each other.

They were seals, dark black print embedded deep within her skin. With an Ancient text that took the circumference of both forearms..

"Oh no." Sakura whispered as she tried to scrub it off harder.

"Oh noo" she wailed out. She tried to collect Chakra in her arms to see if she could disable the seal- but her chakra never came. It was blocked off. She tried again and again. Anger overtook her as she realized this was a Chakra binding seal- she was cut off from using any chakra.

Sakura was in complete despair and disbelief as she laid in the tub staring wide eyed at her arms.

She should have never trusted the Uchiha…

She recalled the moment when he looked over at her, lying in the bed with his arms crossed behind his head. "This is what we always do" he innocently said.

She believed him. She believed they weren't enemies, she even flirted with him- urgh. Her eyes rolled back to the back of her head with disdain. She punched the water in front of her. She could feel how weak she was. She dipped her head in the bathwater and screamed out bubbles of frustration.

She flung her head out of the water and glared at the bathroom door.

Chakra or no chakra, Sasuke has it coming to him.

* * *

Suigetsu was sitting at the edge of Sasuke's bed facing the bathroom door with his arms folded. He began looking at his nails and humming a tune…

"Called for action 20 minutes ago and look at me now! Waiting on a girl to finish a shower. TSK." Suigetsu complained to himself, "I could be here for eternity" he growled.

Sakura opened the door with a towel tied tightly across her. She gave no hesitation to begin the fight against Suigetsu, who had no idea she was even there. She let out a right hook that threw him off the bed. He hit the floor and looked up in shock.

Sakura was already drop kicking him but he decided to liquefy himself into water, avoiding the attack. Sakura paused after her foot hit the water. Recognizing that his power is to liquefy, it only took a second for Sakura to understand what she needed to do. She quickly darted over to the lamp on the bed stand. She tossed the shade off the lamp and smashed the bulb against the wall, exposing the two electric wires and the electric current between them. She jumped up on the bed and with a big grin smashed the lamp current into the puddle of water on the floor.

Suigetsu's screams were loud. He could be heard echoing through the hallways of the place. Sakura stood on top of the bed in her towel with an evil victorious smile.

That was, until someone grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. She turned to see who it was, ready to fight.

Sasuke was right in front of her face. He stood at the foot of the bed gripping her arm with a stern glare. He threw a ninja star with his free arm at the electricity cord, snapping it in half and freeing Suigetsu from his electric torture. Sakura looked at Suigetsu form himself again on the floor in an exhausted state of pain. She looked back at Sasuke who was still glaring at her.

'He isn't the only angry one!' Thought Sakura to herself as she decided to fight Sasuke.

She swung her free arm around to strike him, but he easily deflected it. Sakura kept going— punch, kick, forward stomp, roundhouse, hook, jab, punch. Deflected deflected deflected, with ease. Sasuke grabbed her arm in the middle of a punch and he used it to pull her into him. He pinned her to his chest as he continued to glare down at her.

She glared up at him, unable to attack at such a close range. She struggled for a bit unable to break out of Sasuke's grip. She tried to keep her intimidation tactic going until she could attack again. They stood in the middle of the room glaring at each other for moments, faces just centimeters apart.

Suigetsu felt the tension in the air and sulked back behind the bed. "Y-Y-You know, we-we should've left by now Sasuke" Suigetsu commented timidly. He called out behind the bed with his eyes peering over the mattress at them, blushing at the intimate moment he was invading. Both Sakura and Sasuke ignored him.

Sakura decided to jab at Sasuke's rib. The same one she had earlier fractured and noticed him clutching it in pain. She was sure she had broken it. Sasuke didn't break his glare from the jab. He didn't even flinch in pain. He seemed unaffected by it, unaware of its purpose. In reality, it proved Suigetsu's earlier words to be true, Sasuke had indeed gone to healer while she was taking a shower.

Jealousy boiled in Sakura as she inhaled deeply, biting her tongue.

Sasuke read her reaction with confusion in his eyes.

"Suigetsu, I need you to stay behind and watch her" he commanded him while still reading Sakura's face.

"NO WAY! She's a monster!" Suigetsu shouted as he leaped out of his hiding spot behind the bed.

"Sasuke! Just throw her in the dungeon, please I'm begging you!" Suigetsu pleaded with him. Sasuke quickly jolted his eyes over to Suigetsu, "the dungeon is taken" he said with a glare. Suigetsu was aggravated at the response.

Sakura did her best to struggle out of Sasuke's grip while he was conversing with Suigetsu.

"If they find out we're harboring Konoha Ninjas and only one of them is staying in your room they are going to turn on us Sasuke!" Suigetsu continued to plead.

Sasuke refused to listen to him but he looked down at Sakura again with consideration. Her eyes were big, green and angry.

"If anything happens to me, I need you here Sui" he told him with a calm tone as he was watching Sakura's eyes.

"Two seals aren't enough huh?" Suigetsu remarked, aggravated. Sasuke held his silence. He wasn't going to budge.

Suigetsu threw his head down in despair, he could see how different Sasuke was at this moment. Logic wasn't about to reach him...

"Goddamn teenagers" Suigetsu muttered to himself.

Sakura was taking in the conversation, but she was utterly mesmerized by Sasuke's gaze. Her hate was struggling to surface. She was even dumbfounded for words.

Was this a trick? A special skill of some kind? A secret jitsu? What kind of strange power did he hold over her that would cause her to calm down with just a glance? Sasuke's eyes softened on her and Sakura's gaze slowly drifted shyly to the floor.

Suigetsu felt like an intruder again. The two of them seemed to be communicating in another language, they were in a world of their own. He decided to slide over to the doorway timidly while Sakura's rage was still being confined, "I'll be outside..." he whispered as he exited the door.

Sasuke let Sakue go and continued to watch her as he slowly stepped away from her towards the door as well.

She shook her head slowly and heaved an irritated sigh as he turned to grab the door handle. She crossed her arms in front of her wrapped town.

"I'm not going to be here when you get back" Sakura interjected on his leave.

Sasuke froze, staring at the door handle.

"Sakura,...I don't want to fight with you" he turned his head back to gaze at her..."Trust me, it's for your safety" he tried to explain.

"How can I trust you? I don't know you anymore. You're not telling me anything. You said you're not the enemy but you're treating me like one" Sakura snapped at him.

Sasuke closed his eyes before rolling them to the back of his head in irritation. He inhaled deeply and exhaled with force.

He didn't answer, but instead opened the door and walked out.

He closed the door slowly...

Sakura stood in the middle of the bedroom defeated. She looked around the room trying to hold back her many emotions. Her throat was choking up and she sat on the bed in distress. Her anger restored again now that Sasuke had left the room.

A red seal lit up around the doors and walls prior to disappearing.

Great, Sakura thought to herself, now the room's sealed.

She scoffed as she threw up the middle finger at the door.

* * *

It had been hours already. Sakura was starving and bored out of her mind.

She had already gone through all of Sasuke's wardrobe. Folding them, putting dirty clothes in the hamper and throwing out clothes that would be beyond repair. Choosing to make a dress out of one of Sasuke's purple waist cloth, Sakura tied it around her like a Sarong. It was refreshing and breezy- much better than the towel.

She walked around the room and found so many things to organize, not caring if Sasuke would mind or not. She dusted with one of Sasuke's old bloody shirts. Then threw out small objects she found lying around like junk papers, broken weapons, unusable pens, and used napkins—with what she hoped was mucus in them. She found a bunch of vials with various labels on them, Snake 324, Snake 102, Snake 406, etc, etc. They looked like poison vials that Sakura had studied in class. Sasuke must be taking these to increase his immunity or something, she thought to herself. She decided to organize them in ascending numbers on top of his dresser.

She continued cleaning by rearranging the books from Sasuke's bookcase and organizing them by subject matter. It was all advanced level stuff. Some of the books she had never even heard of before…She would have to commit the titles to memory so she can borrow them out from the library once she got home.

She decided to open up an old textbook that seemed old and tattered. She knew this book, it was from when they were in school together. She flipped through it, reminiscing on old material. She saw notes written across some of the pages. She stopped at a doodle in the middle of the book across a chapter title.

It was a doodle of Sakura when she was young. She was at her desk looking away at the board, biting the end of her pencil.

Sakura couldn't understand what she was seeing. She flipped around and wasn't able to find any other drawings. She pondered for a moment, had Sasuke noticed her when they were younger? She laughed out loud. That didn't make any sense.

A memory had suddenly come to her. It was an old memory in class from their first years together as team 7. Sakura sat between Sasuke and Naruto during an important final exam. She was hurried to try to beat Sasuke in finishing the final, hoping to impress him. Sakura was so focused that she almost didn't notice Naruto peering over at her paper. Catching him in her peripherals, she turned to him and threw her hands over her paper. She slid herself and her test away from Naruto as his mouthed for the answer to question on number 5. Sakura shook her head at him and didn't notice that she was already leaning on Sasuke, invading his space. He scoffed for a moment and she suddenly grew aware of her intrusion. She quickly turned to Sasuke with a silent apology. He didn't scoff at her, instead was glaring at Naruto. He looked at the teacher cleaning the board before leaning closer toward Sakura. He held up two fingers at Naruto quickly. Naruto's eyes beamed with a smile before returning to write down the answer on his test.

Sakura was a little bewildered because she got 10 for that answer and she was sure her answer was correct. She turned to face Sasuke with confusion on her face. He gave a deceitful grin before placing a finger over his lips, suggesting for her to keep the secret. Sakura tried to hold back her laughter as a blush crept through her cheeks. He smiled at her for a moment. She returned the smile back. She returned to her regular sitting position and the rest of the test went by without disruptions.

Sakura faded out of her memory. She knew better than to read too deep into it. She slowly placed the book back on the bookshelf and kept organizing.

After a few more books she came across a medical book, it was a pretty big one. She hadn't seen one this big since she was training with Tsunade. She looked at the cover, it was indeed the same book she had read but a newer edition that had recently came out! She eagerly flipped through the pages quickly, to her surprise they were filled with notes—and doodles. She paused at one of the doodles that looked strangely similar to her. She continued flipping to find more doodles of the same girl.

She looked around with concern.

Should she start reading into this?

Her mind suddenly grew distracted by the noticeable fading of the seals around her forearms. She was alarmed. She dropped the book and continued staring at her arms, they were indeed slowly fading. She could feel the chakra returning to her hands as they began to glow green.

She jumped onto the bed with excitement.

"Yes Yes YES!" She shouted out, jumping up and down. She made a giant leap for the door in excitement. She was already mentally enjoying all the destruction that was about to ensure on her way out. She flung the door open as a big smile spread across her face. If the seals on her arms were disappearing, surely the seal on the door was as well.

Her smile quickly disappeared once she saw what was coming her way into the bedroom. It was Jugo, holding Sasuke in his arms with a frantic Suigetsu and Karen in tow. They were all in Akatsuki outfits, except for Suigetsu who was arguing with Karen at the moment. Sasuke was dangling in Jugo's arms, lifeless and covered in blood.

Sakura's felt as though her soul left her body for a moment as she watched the lifeless figure of Sasuke being carried into the room. She stepped aside quickly as he was being rushed in.

"I don't understand! How did this happen?!" Suigetsu shouted again at Karen.

"HE'S NOT BITING, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING IF HE'S NOT BITING!" Karen shouted at Suigetsu in panic through her wailing sobs. Jugo placed Sasuke on his bed, completely dumbfounded by Sakura's presence.

"Why weren't you there Suigetsu!?" Karen reciprocated in anger.

"I WAS BABYSITTING!" Suigetsu screamed at her.

Jugo looked up at Sakura who was standing next to the door with tears in her eyes as she watched Sasuke bleeding on the bed.

"Who..?" Jugo began asking. Sakura snapped out of her daze and ran to Sasuke's side. She grabbed his Akatsuki robe with shock on and opened it up.

Sasuke...Is apart of Akatsuki!?

Sakura stopped herself from getting distracted and returned her focus back to Sasuke.

She threw his shirt open and began scanning his body with her chakra flowing in from her hands throughout his chest.

"Who is SHE?" Shouted Karen in confusion at Suigetsu.

" _That's_ who I was babysitting. It's Sasuke's girlfriend or something" Suigetsu replied with a snarky tone.

Sakura couldn't listen to herself with the two of them arguing behind her. She turned around and snapped at them, "Shut up or get out!" She screamed.

Suigetsu grew quiet from intimidation but Karen was silent in disbelief.

Sakura returned back to scanning Sasuke's condition. Jugo stood next to her with worry on his face.

Sakura started by healing his heart and cardiovascular system, but it wasn't making improvement. She tried healing him forcefully with much more chakra, but it continued to waver. Something wasn't right.

She put her finger inside one of the many gaping wounds on Sasuke's chest. She could see his bare muscles, parts of white ribs and organ tissues.

"Does she know what she's doing Suigetsu?!" Karen shouted out in concern.

Sakura pulled her finger out of the wound to discover his blood was tainted with something. She closed her eyes to focus and scanned it with her chakra.

"Bugs?" She whispered to herself. "Microscopic, flesh eating bugs? Like Shino's bugs" she said in revelation. She turned around to face the three people behind her arguing amongst themselves.

"He was fighting with someone from the Aburame Clan?" Sakura asked with haste and worry in her words. The three of them stood confused in front of the dresser...Sakura cursed to herself. She studied this before, but she had never seen it. She doesn't know anyone who can undo these bugs unless they are a high-ranking Aburame clan member themselves…She had never seen someone survive this high level of a jitsu from that clan.

She had to think quick before Sasuke was past the point of no return, but she only had these bumbling idiots behind her who couldn't even make out who they were fighting. She glared at them before snapping.

"WHO WAS IT THEN?" Sakura barked at them in furry. Suigetsu slid behind Jugo. No response. Sakura looked around the room trying to think of something.

"Why are you shouting out orders?!" Karen barked back.

"She looks like she knows what she's doing Karen!" Suigetsu replied.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE INCOMPETENT!" replied Sakura screaming back louder.

Sakura was alone in trying to figure this out. How could she possible kill off these microscopic bugs? She felt it was futile, tears began to gather in her eyes. The three members of Taka began arguing again amongst each other.

She noted the dresser behind the three mysterious Akatsuki members standing before her. The collection of vials that Sakura had organized earlier caught her eye. An idea hit her!

Sakura jolted up to grab the vials and ran back to Sasuke's side. She opened one up of the vials and poured the liquid into his wound.

"No no no- stop! That's poison!" Shouted Jugo. Sakura watched the tainted blood start to fade from onyx black in color into a dark red.

"I know what to do now" smiled Sakura in a eureka moment, "give me a sword or a knife, anything!" She shouted. She ran over to the bathroom where Sakura's old chest tube had been previously placed. She rinsed it off before returning to Sasuke's side.

Jugo handed Sakura Sasuke's sword. She didn't even hesitate to cut open the side of Sasuke's neck, exposing his bleeding jugular.

Everyone gasped in disbelief of what she had just done. Sakura quickly slid the tube into his jugular, getting tainted blood pulsing slowly through the tube.

The three members of team Taka watched in complete horror at the situation unfolding. Sakura uncorked one of the vials and began pouring it into the tube.

"Hold this tube and keep pouring all the vials into it" she directed at Suigetsu. He raced to her side and held the tube up as Jugo helped to pour the vials in through the tube.

Sakura started to do chest compressions on Sasuke while simultaneously throwing out healing chakra into him, helping to circulate the poison.

"This is madness!" Suigetsu yelled out at Sakura as she continued with compressions. She was pressing as hard as she could. This continued for 10 minutes, almost all the vials were empty now. Karen had been crying behind Sakura the entire time.

"Stop! We're just killing him faster!" Shouted Karen, trying to hold back Sakura from continuing. As soon as Sakura felt Karen pull her back, she grabbed Karen by the throat and tossed her to the side hard enough to break the dresser she was thrown against.

Jugo and Suigetsu both gawked at Sakura's crazy strength. Suigetsu stopped holding the tube and ran to tend to Karen. Jugo also looked over to make sure Karen was alright. Jugo had seen enough, Sasuke wasn't reviving after ten minutes, she wasn't saying anything and now she trashed Karen against the dresser. Jugo simply didn't trust Sakura. He was next to her, watching her do compressions… he decided to take a swing at her. She was completely distracted trying to heal Sasuke as aggressively as possible.

Jugo swung his arm up ready to snap her in half.

Suddenly, Sasuke's hand rose up to Jugo— telling him to stop.

"SASUKE!" Jugo shouted out, lowering his arms.

Sakura looked down at Sasuke's face, his eyes were slightly open as he held a grimace. A smile overcame her.

"You idiot" she laughed at him as she stopped compressions.

Her hands glowed bright green as she continued healing him from his chest. She quickly wiped a tear that had slipped out from the corner of her eye with her elbow. All three members of team Taka were quickly at his side as well, elated.

"Sasuke! I knew you would make it!" Karen shouted out— ignoring the fact she was just tossed against the dresser for disagreeing with Sakura a moment ago. Sakura rolled her eyes at the comment as she continued moving her hands along Sasuke's chest.

"Sasuke! You almost scared us there for a minute" Suigetsu added.

Sakura placed one hand on Sasuke's neck and took out the tube, quickly healing up the wound.

"You're not allowed any scars to brag about this one" Sakura joked with him.

"No one will believe me then" Sasuke coughed out with strain.

"...what did you do?" Jugo asked Sakura, completely stunned by Sasuke's miraculous recovery.

"Sasuke had these tiny microbial bugs in his blood that were devouring him from the inside out" Sakura said as the glowing green reflected off her face.

"I've only seen them once before, it's a high marked Jitsu from the Aburame clan" she continued, "I've never met anyone who had survived it before, but I've also never met anyone stupid enough to poison themselves on purpose to grow immunity to poison either".

Sasuke grinned at her through the pain.

"Pretty useful, isn't it?" he boasted.

"Not if you're unconscious! None of these idiots would've known that the poision would kill of the bugs and not you" Sakura scolded him. "They're useless! they didn't even know who you were fighting. I recommend you find new goons, there's no way they would have figured-"Sakura was cut off as Sasuke's hand rose up to press against her cheek.

"Aren't you glad you didn't leave?" Sasuke smiled at her.

Sakura's face turned red. Even the green glow from her hands couldn't mask her blush. A moment had passed, but it felt like an eternity. The silence in the room was tense.

She looked back to catch the shade of Sasuke's team members... Jugo was pressing his lips together, also trying to hide his blush while looking away at a wall. Karen had her mouth open with an unmistakably angry look on her face. Suigetsu had his eyebrows high up, flashing his big shark teeth with a kinky smile and two thumbs up.

"Idiot!" Sakura turned back to face Sasuke, " _you_ should be the one glad I didn't leave!".

Sakura huffed with the apparent blush written across her face. "I should kill you for making me worry" she added.

"Kill me then" he grinned.


	19. Chapter 19

This chapter is brought to you by Savi and his amazing review. It made my week.

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Sakura inhaled slowly as she began to wake from what could possibly be considered the best sleep of her life. She was cozy and warm, covered in blankets. She stretched her arms up over her head and arched her back in a yawn. Eyes refusing to open, she turned to her side and snuggled the warm lump of comforter next to her. Wrapping her arm around it, she rested on it. She couldn't remember the last time a comforter was so warm and heavenly. It smelled like concentrated happiness, she thought to herself as she breathed it in with delight. Slowly, she began to doze off.

Long after sleep won her over, far gone in a splendid dream, Sakura unfortunately awoke to a knock.

She gave a small groan as she heard someone cautiously opening the door. Her tired eyes only widened a slither, Sakura could see a large man with orange hair at the entrance of the room.

He wasn't moving. He just stood there, holding a tray of food with a baffled look on his face.

"Just put it on the desk, Jugo" whispered a dark husky voice from just above Sakura's head.

He didn't move, taking in the sight before him with disbelief.

"Jugo" the voice said with annoyance. Sakura's hair began to shift, a hand slowly slid out of its resting place, tangled within her hair. She didn't notice it there before.

Jugo didn't hesitate to begin walking towards the desk, past Sakura's frame of vision. She closed her eyes as she heard the tray placed gently on on the desk.

The same fingers gingerly burrowed their way through Sakura's hair again, invoking an orgasmic sensation down her spine. The hand then gently rested on the side of her head. She took in all its warmth. Sakura's eyes rolled to the back of her head with happiness and a smile overtook her cheeks. She dug her head deeper in the comforter and rubbed her face side to side with delight. She repositioned one of her legs over the comforter, hoping to find a comfortable position to sleep in again. The smallest moan could be heard above her head.

...Sakura paused at the sound. She slowly began opening her eyes to see that the man earlier had already left. Confusion struck her, where did that sound just come form? Forcing herself waken to her surroundings, she lifted her head off the comforter. To her surprise, it starting moving beneath her.

Her eyes shot open as she looked around to see what was going on. She turned her head and let out a small gasp, realizing she wasn't lying on a comforter.

It was Sasuke.

The comforter was Sasuke wrapped in his own blankets.

Sakura's heart jumped up to her throat. She grew pale as she watched Sasuke lying beneath her with his eyes closed. One of his hands was weaved into her hair, resting on her head. His other arm was comfortably tucked behind his head.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably after Sakura changed her position. He released his arm from behind his head to push Sakura's leg off his waist. He glanced down at her for a moment, now noticing that she was now awake, looking at him. They both locked stunned eyes. Sakura was unsure of how to respond in the current situation. Was she in trouble? Was he going to be upset? Should she apologize or play it off?

….

It was hard to read his silence as she watched his eyes watch hers.

The pause was long...Two poker faces. Neither of them wanting to acknowledge what was happening.

After a long moment, Sasuke finally gave a quick sigh, deciding to push Sakura off him.

"So annoying" he muttered as he turned away from her.

Sakura was tossed to the side effortlessly rolling back in the bundle of sheets. She huffed, trying to unravel herself from the tangle. She stuck her head out of the sheets, catching a glimpse of Sasuke's muscular back as he sat at the end of the bed. Sakura was quick to think of a verbal reply for the poor treatment but instead held her tongue as she admired Sasuke from behind.

His waist was slender and his back was covered in such well defined muscles. His toned arms...She enjoyed the ruggedness in the scars across his back and the thick veins in his arms. His hair was reckless with beautiful deep black spikes. Sakura felt her heart skip a beat as she was overcome with emotions, mostly of the sexual kind. She blushed as she continued to gawk at his form. He was perfect in everyway.

With only a slight turn of his head, Sasuke darted his eye to hers. They locked onto hers. For the first time, Sakura recognized the strange new tension between them. As though he could see all the sexual thoughts running through Sakura's head. He continued to hold his mysterious gaze on her eyes as he walked to the bathroom, slowly closing the door behind him. Sakura had to take a moment to consider what had just happened.

She couldn't really wrap her mind around it. The flashes of Sasuke's genjitsu raced throughout her head. She grabbed the pillow nearest to her and dug her face into it, letting out a quiet screech of panic and embarrassment. What ..in the world was happening to her? She had to focus, think of anything else. Puppies, kittens, anything innocent.

She sighed heavily with the pillow in her face.

A loud gurgling and sharp pain instantly followed.

What a pain

What a pain in her GUT… She successfully stopped her thoughts in realization of just how hungry she was.

Lifting her head up out of the pillow, she peered over to the food on the desk. She couldn't remember the last time she ate…

Probably just before the auction..

Sakura eye-balled the large tray of food. Surely, it couldn't _all_ be just for Sasuke…

She waited for Sasuke to come out of the bathroom, but it he was taking an awfully long time, what on earth was he doing? She didn't hear any water running...

She couldn't guess how much longer he would be. She wanted to wait for him to ask for permission but...Her stomach pain was worsening by the minute as the smell of the food overrode her senses. She crept out of the tangled bedsheets and lurked over to the food. It looked amazing!

Omelette rice, miso, salad, simmered vegetable chunks in a cream sauce, and roasted fish in dashi sauce. How could she refuse?

Sakura grabbed the chopsticks at the top of the tray and cautiously took the rice bowl in her hands. She sat at the desk chair and took one final peek behind her at the bathroom door…Still no sign of Sasuke. She turned back eagerly to her new food tray. Without remorse, she began to dig in.

Everything was delicious! She picked a little from each of the dishes. She went on eating for minutes, lost in the flurry of amazing flavors. She couldn't remember the last time she had such great homemade food. She squealed in delight as she kept eating.

She picked up a cherry tomato from her salad and pulled it up to her mouth. The chopsticks hit her mouth without it.

Thinking she dropped it, Sakura shrugged it off and went for another one. She tossed the second tomato to her mouth and it also disappeared, but this time-midair. She snapped out of her food trace for a moment. She looked to her immediate left to finally notice Sasuke leaning on the bookshelf, giving her a serious look of disbelief.

Sakura was jolted with fear.

"Sakura." Sasuke said disappointed in her, "I am very concerned about the fact that I just stood here watching you for the past 5 minutes without you noticing...and you're supposed to be a goddamn ninja!"

Sakura looked at him with two big eyes in shock, unable to read the expression in his tone at first. He maintained his serious composure, looking at her condescendingly before he continued, "We need to find you another job. I don't know how much longer you can make it as a ninja".

There it was, he was joking with her.

Sakura started chuckling in laughter as she casually put another tomato in her mouth. Sasuke also started to chuckle before noticing that she continued eating. He caught himself.

"NO. Stop eating my tomatoes!" Sasuke snapped at her. He swung his arm out again to steal the tomato she had just placed on her lips. She dodged his swipe by throwing her head back, tilting the seat over. Sakura fell back on the floor in a clumsy manner and laughed as she popped the tomato into her mouth with victory.

"Damn it Sakura. Be more ninja-like" Sasuke said frustrated.

"I'm sorry" Sakura said crying with laughter,"but I was just so hungry!"

"Get up get up get up get up, people are going to start talking" Sasuke snapped at her, peering over at the door as though someone would walk through any moment.

"WHO?" Sakura belted out in laughter.

"People" Sasuke barked back quickly.

Sakura's laughter filled the room, even Sasuke was having a hard time holding back his smile. She continued laughing as she got back up and fixed the chair. She hadn't laughed that authentically in years. She appreciated his playful disposition, it was like the good old days. Since he was in such a good mood, Sakura thought now was a good time to point out some bad news to him. Her laughter started to die down.

"By the way, Sorry about the dresser", she said with an innocent giggle.

"Wait." Sasuke stopped smiling and looked over at his destroyed dresser next to the doorway. His mouth crept open in surprise. He hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Uh...That was you?" he asked in disbelief.

"How did you? What did you even _use_ to commit that much damage to my dresser?!" he asked bewildered, remarking the way the dresser was split down the middle like a snapped wafer cookie. Sakura stood next to him, looking over at the dresser and shrugged.

"I don't know who that was, really, some red head" she said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Sasuke and Sakura stood next to each other considering the destruction before them in awe, as though it were a piece of art. Sasuke shook his head for a moment trying to understand what Sakura had just said to him.

"Wait. You used the physical body of a girl to destroy the dresser?" He furrowed his eyebrow upward, trying to clear up exactly what happened. Sakura nodded as she continued watching the dresser. Appearing to have been totally okay with that whole situation, Sasuke nodded his head. He continued by addressing his real concern over the issue...

"But do you understand how hard it is to get a dresser into a secret hideout in middle of nowhere?" he asked with irritation. Sakura looked up at him with a pause, imaging how hilarious that would must play out. No one ever thinks about how all this furniture gets into a secret lair.

"How could I possibly know that?!" Sakura shouted at him with an exasperated laughter.

Sasuke looked over at her in disbelief. He watched her carefully until a smile started to creep across the end of his lips. The image also came to his mind. He placed a palm over his face as his shoulders began shaking. He was laughing.

Sakura could see the genuine happiness in his eyes. Hearing his laughter again was as just as fulfilling she imagined it to be. She was so thankful to be with him without his dark side, he was just good old Sasuke again.

Sakura followed his laughter.

They both stood next to each other laughing for a moment.

The laughter died down and they both shared a comforting smile. The silence between them was so loving and warm.

Sasuke's stomach interrupted the moment with a growl. Sakura looked up at him with worry.

"Can we eat this on top of the bed?" Sakura asked as she pointed to the food tray on the desk.

"Do you think there's any left for me?" Sasuke asked after nodding at Sakura. She giggled.

Sakura set the tray in the middle of the bed. She hopped up onto the bed with her knees, crawling to the top of the bed. Sasuke sat down at the foot of the bed. Sakura handed him the chopsticks as they both got ready to eat.

He reached over and grabbed the chopsticks, giving his thanks with an "itadakimasu" before digging in right away at the roasted fish on the tray. Sasuke put a piece in his mouth and quickly grabbed some miso to drink it down with.

"The fish is a little dry, they set the temperature too high...whoever made it." She casually critiqued as she popped a vegetable in her mouth with her fingers.

"It _is_ dry...You know cooking well, Sakura?" Sasuke inquired curiously after he finished chewing his fish.

"Meh. My mother had been teaching me since I was a kid so that I could become just another stupid housewife" she scoffed into the omelette rice bowl before taking a bite.

Sasuke smiled at her before taking in some more food.

"She must be so proud of you now. I'm sure you've got all the boys in Konoha going hysterical" He smiled to himself, "I can't imagine what they're doing now, with you gone" Sasuke joked lightly as he continued eating.

Sakura ignored the jab at her, surely he was joking. She simply sat there, contemplating what to best to say to explain her thoughts on the subject.

"I don't ever want to get married. I want to focus on myself. My research, my work..." she stated boldy to Sasuke.

He stopped chewing and looked up at her and paused.

"Sakura…" Sasuke sighed. "You're giving up on what you wanted just because you are scared of failing. You don't need to lie to yourself, or to me for that matter..."

He put his chopsticks down and continued talking very serious tone. He looked at Sakura's eyes.

"You're denying that you actually really do want to get married. By saying otherwise maybe no one will notice how hurt you are in your failing struggle to attain it. I remember that look in your eyes, how badly you wanted it when we were kids"

Sakura watched him speak as she held back the pain in her eyes. She looked down at the food tray in frustration. She didn't want to hear this from him. Did he not understand that all her hope for that dream was destroyed as soon as he left Konoha? He was the cause of all her misery.

Sasuke looked back down at the food. He tensed up, feeling he said too much. She caught his guilty eyes for a split second.

Maybe Sasuke did realize that he was the source of her broken dream...Maybe he was just trying to encourage her to move on without him, Sakura thought to herself as she studied him. But Sageki was placed in this dangerous mission because she was trying hard to force herself to move on after Sasuke left. She had been trying to move on, and she couldn't. Impossible for her to convey this to Sasuke...She sighed. She was pretty embarrassed that he could read her like an open book. Even Miki had never called out Sakura on her true feelings on the subject. She didn't know what to say.

Sasuke looked down at his chopsticks... lost in thought as well.

"I understand a little" he managed to say.

"I know the revival of the Uchiha clan weighs on my shoulders...I feel like it should just die with me" Sasuke quietly confessed to her. There was silence, it was a heavy subject.

"Ahh. I see" said Sakura trying to lighten the mood, "Well I guess it takes a good liar to know one" she said to him with a smile.

He looked up at her, she read him well too. He returned the smile.

They each looked at one another, appreciating the unique connection they shared.

"So, uh..since we are on sore subjects...what happened with your brother? I heard…" Sakura asked softly.

"I killed him." Sasuke interjected. Looking down, he stirred his bowl of rice with his chopsticks nervously.

"Was it...uh,..everything you expected? Was it worth all of this?" Sakura asked curiously.

"...Maybe No.." Sasuke shrugged, "...no one's ever asked me that".

"Then what are you doing? Why are you in the Akatsuki all of the sudden? Your revenge is done. Please just...just come back home, Sasuke" Sakura pleaded softly to him, knowing it was a tender subject to touch upon.

Sasuke straightening up and looked at Sakura dead in the eye. Sakura could see the dark side of Sasuke creeping in through his stare.

But nothing could have prepared her for the next words to come out of his mouth, they were dripping with hatred.

"Because I am going to destroy Konoha" he stated.

The wind was knocked out of Sakura.

Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened after hearing this bombshell.

"...what.."Sakura could barely form a word. Her mind raced with a hundred different questions.

"Why?" was all she could finally fumble out.

Sasuke understood her shock and must have felt the need to explain himself.

"The truth is that Konoha murdered the entire Uchiha clan. What Itachi did...it was ordered by the Konoha higher ups to prevent a revolution from forming…" Sasuke explained with pain behind his words.

"If it hadn't been Itachi, another Anbu member would have done it. He agreed to do it himself and take the blame for it in exchange for my life to be spared"

Sakura ran her hands through her hair slowly, in disbelief at the confession that was happening. This was intense information...

"Akatsuki is willing to help me with my mission as long as I help them with theirs." Sasuke added.

"What's their mission then?" Sakura hesitated to ask.

"They want to revive the dead...hundreds of them" Sasuke replied in a matter of fact tone.

Sakura froze.

The pearl.

She was in a stupor, considering his words.

"Sasuke...what were you looking for in the auction with Akatsuki? You were at both auctions weren't you? The one in the land of water and the one in the land of sound…"

He paused. Considering whether to tell her the truth.

"...Yes." He confessed.

"Ooh" Sakura cooed in realization. "So _are_ the only survivor of the first auction because you _are_ part of Akatsuki huh? The name Satoshi Yamatoru gave me, Kuroma Shichiro he was the only survivor of the first auction according to my source..." she was careful in choosing her next words. They were only speculation.

"But...Are- are you _are_ Shichiro? Is that why you claimed that you warned me to leave the auction multiple times?… You've been using this surname to control the politics in Orochimaru's Land of the Sound? Are you just trying to give into the illusion to the world that it is operating as ungoverned land?" Sakura continued probing him.

Sasuke chuckled lightly, "Very observant, Sakura" he complimented her.

"So, you killed Satoshi Yamatoru because he knew who you were and what you were doing, didn't you? That's why you were in the cellar when I was questioning him, huh?" Sakura added.

"Yes. But in my defense, after watching your sad excuse for a seduction jutsu, his death is on your hands. I honestly just wanted to scare some questions out of him but after what I saw- one of us had to be put out of our misery."

Sakura got flustered by his words.

"So you _saw_ all of that!?" she shouted out embarrassed, recounting the night of her poorly executed seduction jitsu. She felt the sting of being the butt of Sasuke's joke.

"My seduction jitsu wasn't _that_ bad!" she quickly defended herself.

"Oh please." Sasuke scoffed.

"I've been working on it since then!" Sakura glared at him.

"I can see that. Isn't that why I had to save you, Mrs. Nomura?" Sasuke jabbed at her her again.

He chuckled at her flustered expression. A blush ran through her cheeks. She considered the banter between herself and Shichiro on the night of the auction at Nomura's tower.. That was Sasuke all along? All those embarrassing things she said and did..

"I gave you a taste of _my_ seduction genjitsu at the cemetery.." Sasuke said with a grin and a raised eyebrow. Acknowledging the full awareness of his actions that night.

"Tell me...how does it compare?" he added with a seductive tone, leaning toward her, waiting for her reaction.

Sakura's bones almost crawled out of her skin as a jolt of hormones raged throughout her body.

She had no words to express her shock as she realized what Sasuke had just implied. Trying hard not to relive the genjitsu in her head, Sakura avoided eye contact with Sasuke. She waited for her breathing to return before considering her comeback carefully.

"You got me. Maybe I'm a little clumsy with my seduction jitsu. Maybe it's not even as great as yours" she confessed.

"But I caught how scared Shichiro was to be touched by a handful of my poor inadequate seduction jitsu at the auction..." Sakura responded as she also lifted her eyebrow back at him seductively.

She rose the cup of miso to her lips.

She glanced at him with an evil grin as she set her lips on the cup...

"Are you afraid to see how much stronger my seduction jitsu could really be in comparison?...Or are you just afraid you can't handle it?" she asked, locking eyes on him.

Sasuke was dumbfounded by her words.

He sat in front of her blinking rapidly.

His mouth opened for a moment, as though he was considering saying something.

He couldn't gather a single word. Not even one sly retort.

Sakura was entertained by the baffled look on Sasuke's face.

She soaking in victory at his defeat with a delicious grin on her lips.

Sasuke quietly sat for a while...He placed his chopsticks down and slowly rose up from the bed.

Sakura watched him with as he got up and silently walked out of the bedroom.

He didn't return...


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry for the lag in updating last week. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up for Valentines day

Please drop me a review if you can, it really motivates me to keep writing!

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Sakura ate alone in silence, replaying the conversation over and over again in her head.

What was so wrong with throwing sexual innuendos if he started them first? The nerve he had to just walk out of the room! He was just as rude as ever. She made a mental note to throw a couple in every now and again just to upset him when needed...

That would make her feel better. Jerk.

She huffed, finishing the meal by herself.

When she finished, she placed the tray back on top of the desk. Trying to balance it on the pile of paperwork that had made its home on it. Balancing proved more difficult than she initially assumed. After spending a few moments trying to set it on various parts of the desk, she finally got it in just the right position. She turned around after a sigh of relief and decided to start planning her escape. She was stopped once the clatter of dishes hit her ears. She rolled her eyes and turned back around, beginning to gather all the dishes back on the tray again. She placed the tray on the floor next to the bed. Standing up, she looked at the desk with irritation. A pile was there in the middle of the desk, taunting her with its presence. Crumbled paper scattered, pens of all sorts tossed about, and everything almost tilting off the edge of the desk at any moment. Obviously, the desk of a boy who had to raise himself…

Sakura scoffed.

"Sasuke.." she said to herself shaking her head. She wouldn't give into the temptation to clean his room any further!

Sakura had to focus on a plan to escape… She stood there for a long while trying to think of something, but nothing came to mind as she eyed the messy table…

Maybe she could just clean the room really quick, as a sign of her gratitude. Or at least as an apology for breaking his dresser. Maybe she will stumble across a Akatsuki plan or secret that she could take back to Konoha!

Sasuke's last escapade took quite some time, surely she'd have time to clean _and_ concoct a plan. She looked over at the sword leaning against Sasuke's side table.

"… I can't imagine him going out to fight without his sword just a few hours after almost dying though…" Sakura calculated out loud to herself. She put her hand on her head and scrunched up her nose at the thought. Actually, she could see him doing that. That boy is pure adrenaline fueled ego on a rampage.

"God. This idiot just needs help" she whispered to herself. If he came back before she finished then she would just try to escape another day, but she didn't want to leave without helping him. Not after all he had done for her.

Unwillingly, a memory came to her mind, Sasuke lying in bed and softly explaining Sakura that he helped her "because this is what we always do". The image repeated in her mind with great clarity and awe. "FINE. FINE. FINE" Sakura snapped at herself. Trying not to get sentimental about the memory.

She began by going through each of the papers, skimming them to determine if they were worthy of keeping. Everything else she would categorize from relevance.

It took a while. A long while. Sakura worked hard and by the end she had a pile of scrolls and books on the bed to sift through. She gained little information from them, unable to gather what exactly was the topic of Sasuke's study that created such a scattered library of information. She wanted to just throw all the books and scrolls onto the bookshelf, but it was painfully disorganized. Her best friend Miki would keel over dead if she saw this mess. The bookshelf was her next mission.

She grabbed the bottom half of the bookshelf and began throwing everything on the bed to sort. A hefty pile quickly overtook the bed and Sakura felt discouraged for a moment. She sat loyally on the bed, sifting through each book and scroll so she could categorize it back onto the bookshelf.

A yawn overcame her, she had been at it for hours. Sakura knocked one of the scrolls off the bed on accident as she shifted around. She turned to catch it in time but it unraveled as it hit the ground, showing a large drawing of the mangekyo sharingan, surrounded by text. Sakura paused as she looked at the scroll.

"...sharingan?" She picked the scroll up curiously from the ground and began to start reading the old text around it.

'In search for accumulating power, Indra unlocked the first Mangekyo Sharingan known by sacrificing the people closest to him.' Sakura read aloud. She opened the scroll further, taking interest in the subject. She had never heard of this before.

Was this a manual for the sharingan? It's so old. It's written in a difficult handwriting. Must be written by an Uchiha, they formatted a different writing script a long time ago. She looked around the back of the scroll to find who the author was, or what year it had been written. Nothing.

She rolled up the scroll, searching for the proper title. In the front of the rolled scroll, where the date, title and author usually are represented, there was no writing. Instead, to Sakura's surprise, there was a stamp that deemed the scroll a forbidden text from the library of Konoha. Sakura sat on the bed dumbfounded.

She gazed back at the mountain of scrolls before her. How many of these are stolen from different parts of the world? She pondered the true level of Sasuke's malevolence behind that adorable face.

"Fuck" Sakura whispered to herself. She sighed and decided that now was her only chance to read these scrolls. He must have stolen them for a reason. The more that Sakura could gather of what Sasuke's wasn't telling her, the better.

She looked down and opened the scroll.

She continued reading for a long time, stories about a man named Hagoromo and his two sons, Indra and Asura. It went on explaining the differences between two. The more she read the more she considered Sasuke and Naruto's relationship to be a mirror image of the two.

Sakura paused to consider Sasuke. If anything would explain Sasuke's desire to achieve great power, it must be to create peace. He's lived in turmoil and disaster for so long that she wondered if his vision of peace got skewed along the way. Maybe he lost sight of what peace was really like? What if the part of him that remembers peace and happiness is constantly at war with the part of him that is still suffering from his trauma?

She stopped to truly contemplate the inner war within Sasuke. When she asked him about Itachi earlier, he was full of emotion. Although he may have a hard time displaying emotion, Sakura knew Sasuke well. He seemed almost crushed at the mention of his brother. That's when she lost him. His eyes glazed over into a hypnotized trace, consumed with hate and defiance. From one minute to the next he was gone. He spoke about destroying Konoha and unleashed dark secrets about the Uchiha slaughter right after

She can feel he has suffered through so much, his actions can only be a backlash to the cruel world that has treated him so harshly. How could she be mad at him?

If there had been any chance at getting Sasuke to understand peace she would simply have to show him that he has it within him. She wanted to convey to him that his pain is valid but he should try to see the peace that is deep down. She's seen it in him. If only he could notice it himself, without lashing out at the world.

Sakura sighed, getting lost in her train of thought wasn't going to help. She wasn't sure when Sasuke would return or how he would react to her picking up on his stolen collection. She should finish reading and put the scroll away...

She returned to reading for about half an hour before stumbling upon something she couldn't believe.

It was on the topic of Indra and Asura determining who would inherit the throne of Hagoromo. It spoke about the many trials that was bestowed amongst the two by their father. During the age of tests there were large fires along the north of the country, to the south great famine and to the east a tsunami had recently destroyed a large city. Hagoromo bestowed the responsibility amongst his two sons to try and achieve peace amongst the three areas of disaster. Asura, in his wisdom, decided to create four great stones that could control the elements; fire, water, wind and earth. He entrusted the power of the stones to a respectable representative of an area hit by disaster. The city itself could determine the best action for the stones and ask for the aid of the city holding another stone.

Indra laughed at the creation of Asura's stones. He felt that interfering with the natural paths of the elements would create a disruption in the natural ecosystem causing further chaos. Moreover, civilization was inherently evil and would use the stones to fight each other. Instead, Indra decided to produce a gem of his own, by concentrating the power gathered from the tree of life. What had emerged was a small beautiful white marble. Much like the tree of life, the gem held the ability to suck the chakra out of someone until death came. That person would also be able to release chakra back into the dead, reviving them.' Sakura's eyes widened. This sounds like...

'Indra would only allow the gem onto the hands of someone whom he felt held the best sense of right and wrong. That person would become the judge on whether death was justified or not, ultimately becoming a grim reaper. If a natural disaster occurred, people could be revived once the elements passed. Without interfering with nature, the holder could tame the human element. Such a noble person would consider the risks and benefits of passing judgement upon man. It was a power to hold together the fragile balances in the world.'

Below was a sketch of Indra holding a tiny white ball, behind him were scales of balance. Next to the drawing was Asura with the large four oblong shaped gems and the appropriate element drawn behind him.

'Heavy criticism was placed upon Indra for his choice in trying to balance life and death. His weapon would also go unused for many years due to his inability to find a person he deemed worthy of holding its power. However, Asura had soon after bestowed the gems amongst the cities and were the cause of great success—furthering Indra's ridicule.'

Sakura could barely withhold her excitement.

"The pearl! The pearl! It's talking about the pearl!" Sakura chirped.

After all her time researching, it turns out Sasuke had the the missing pieces she needed all along. Who would have ever guessed? Her excitement rose through the roof, figuratively.

The story went on to talk about Asura's other successes. A small town saved, a few wars prevented. It quickly spoke again of Indra's faults, not in such detail in comparison though.

When Asura was finally chosen as the successor for Hogorome, the two fought and Indra went into exile. Sakura kept scrolling down quickly to the end, 'At 125 years old, Indra was outlived by his wife and succeeded by his many sons, expanding the bloodline across the country—creating what is now known as the Uchiha clan.'

Sakura blinked a couple times to re-read the last sentence again.

"125 years old?!" Sakura gasped. Is that even possible?

"If Indra had the pearl with him, why didn't he just use it to live forever?" Sakura questioned out loud. She scanned the room in thought. Was this truly the pearl then? Or had someone else had been given the pearl, he would have no excuse not to use it. Someone he trusted, it must have been one of his sons.

She closed the scroll and fixed her gaze on the pile of books above the bed. She had to scan through each of the Uchiha history books and follow the bloodline. That could take days! She didn't have such time. She had to go find Sageki...

She decided to finish organizing them on the bookshelf by order of which most likely had more information on the bloodline first. She spent hours skimming through books and placing them in the appropriate spot on the bookshelf. She was rather enjoying herself, flipping through the whole bookcase book by book.

She laid around the bed in various positions, sat on the chair and even took a long bath while reading the books. Sakura was elated to also picked up on Sasuke's notes perfecting different types of chakra. By the time she had finished, she had roughly knew the basis of most Sasuke's readings...Forbidden techniques, Poison, Chakra specialities, history, and medicine.

The scrolls were all nicely piled at the bottom of the bookshelf and the books were now organized fashionably along the rest of the bookshelf. But she couldn't seem to get a small section to push all the way against the baseboard. The books stood out from alignment with the others...She pulled the books out and inspected the bookshelf. There was something caught between the back of the shelf and the baseboard. She reached in and pulled out a small black book trapped there. There was no title on it but it had a paper note stuck inside of it.

She pulled out the note that read,

"Welcome to manhood, signed Sui…?" Sakura read aloud. She shrugged and opened the book, flipping through the book, she randomly stopped at a page in the middle. She inhaled in shock at what she was seeing, she quickly shut the book. She was stunned and speechless. She put her hand over her face to hide her blush. It was official, Sasuke was definitely not a little boy anymore. Sakura decided to put the book back right where she found it and pretend like she never saw it. Her bright red face wasn't disappearing anytime soon though, her concentration was sufficiently broken. She stumbled to cover the hidden spot with more books.

She sat down on the bed in shock as the memory of Sasuke's genjitsu attacked her thoughts.

...h-has Sasuke..lost his virginity already?

Sakura lost her calm at the sheer thought of the situation. She shot up nervously and rubbed her eyes. Sasuke sleeping with a girl, it was hard to believe. But he _is_ at the age where it would occur to him. He has a bloody book for god sakes! Also, he's always been sought after by girls since he was a boy, now his mature masculine looks must be amplifying that crowd by magnitudes.

He did also have power in the land of sound as Shoichi...It is very possible that he... Maybe that's why his seduction genjitsu was so much better than her seduction jitsu!

He did joke that Sakura's seduction techniques were terrible. Sakura looked down at her hands and sighed.

Maybe he could tell that she hasn't done anything sexual before...She slapped her own forehead.

She shouldn't have waited! How stupid was it for her to wait.

He didn't wait. Who was she kidding? What was she waiting for?!

She laid down on the bed, distressed in her own thoughts.

Sageki would've done it with her at the drop of a hat, especially that night they were drunk- she had to stop herself mid-thought.

Sakura couldn't go any further that night. Her guilt was too high, especially because the kiss only happened from her drunkenly imagining him as Sasuke.

She sighed again with guilt for even thinking such a horrible thing.

Now Sageki's disappearance rests on her shoulders because of this disgusting thought process that overtakes her. She is always turning Sageki into something he's not, just so she could selfishly patch up her own loneliness.

She hated herself. Taking advantage of a lovestruck boy to the point where it may have killed him...

She needed to take her mind off the subject before she went mad.

She needed to get out of here and find Sageki.

She needed to return home and stop Yuki.

She needed to stop thinking about Sasuke.

She dug her hands through her hair in frustration. She shot up and stormed around the room, caught in anxiety. Walking over to the door, she swung it open in frustration. The red seal encasing the room blocked the exit. Sakura huffed at it.

She began swinging at the seal, throwing her best punches. It was no use. Her chakra was gone, they were as soft as a child's punches. She looked down in rage at her forearm seals, binding her chakra away from her. She was so frustrated that she felt her tears swell up in her eyes. She punched the seal in front of her again before slamming the door shut. She stomped over to the bookshelf and looked around at the forbidden scrolls she piled at the bottom of the bookshelf.

"I'm going to find out where he found these stupid seals and I'm going to break them" Sakura growled as she set four thick forbidden jitsu scrolls on top of the clean desk.

* * *

(extra)

Sasuke walked into his room with tired eyes. He was holding a basket with freshly washed and folded clothes. He peered over at the broken dresser with an eye roll as he placed the basket on top of the remains. He dragged his feet walking over to the shower.

After a quick shower, Sasuke shuffled out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, drying his hair with another towel around his head. He hovered over the basket, picking out fresh clothes to sleep in. He slid them on under his towel and tossed the two towels back into bathroom. He took a pause at the old blue Uchiha shirt in the basket. He turned around the notice that he didn't see Sakura in the room.

In fact, the room looked different to him, it was so clean. Even his book case was organized!

Sasuke walked over to inspect the bookshelf, there was a hint of panic in his walk. As he got closer, he could finally see Sakura hidden behind the desk chair. She was hunched over some scrolls on the desk, fast asleep. He took a few moments to watch her as a grin crept up the side of his face. The dim lighting from the desk lamp really accentuated the best features of her face.

He stopped himself and ran a hand through his hair. He did his best to return to his emotionless face, just watching Sakura as he loomed over her. She was reading his scroll on dark jitsu's from The Land of Rain. He clicked his tongue in irritation. She was trying to find a way out of the seals.

She wasn't about to find it in his library, but at least she could learn a thing or two in the end by reading his scrolls.

"She's probably anxious being here...Maybe she just needs some fresh air?" He whispered to himself.

Sasuke cursed to himself quietly. He forgot to bring her more food today...

He had admittedly never kept a prisoner before like this...she was almost like a cute pet. But he obviously wasn't very good at taking care of her, he admitted to himself. Maybe tomorrow he would take her out and spend time with her…

He reached over and turned off the desk lamp. He tucked his arm underneath Sakura's knees and her back, scooping her up from the desk. She whimpered for a moment but continued sleeping in his arms. He looked down at her and admired her for a moment. He began carrying her over to the bed to set her down gently. Covering her in blankets, a grin escaped from his mouth. He stopped himself as soon as he noticed.

His poker face was getting rusty around her, he caught himself joking and grinning more than usual. Even his team members made remarks on his positive demeanor throughout the day. It was beginning to get rather annoying, all the peace of mind she gave him. It made it hard for him to focus on his goals…

Sasuke turned off the bedside table lamp and walked over to his side of the bed. He got underneath the covers and laid on his back, turning off the lights. He looked over to see the back of Sakura's sleeping form and as she snoozed quietly. The sarong she wore exposed her back, making it seem as though she was naked among the covers. He slowly examined the detail of her skin on her shoulder blades, her muscles and the bones along her spine. Her skin was soft when he picked her up.

Sasuke bit his lower lip as a subtle blush gave away what he was really thinking…

He turned to face the wall away from Sakura.

It might be a long night for him..

Tomorrow, he would work on his poker face.


	21. Chapter 21

Happy Valentines day everybody!

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

Sakura was standing at the top of the highest tower from the land of sound. It was a dark, windy and cloudy night but the sparkle of the city lights far below the tower were still visible. Sakura stood next to Sageki, both of them dressed in Anbu outfits. He turned to her and softly kissed her forehead. She looked up at him in confusion. He turned away from her and walked to the ledge of the building. He faced her and began shouting the poem aloud to her. Sakura remembered this poem by memory already, she didn't need to hear it again- she already opened the box. She just needed him to return home. She pleaded with him to stop and return home, but it didn't stop him from repeating the poem again louder. Sakura grew distressed as the air whipped across her face with the increasing winds. Sageki rose his arms up to the sky before looking up and tilting his head back away from the ledge. "Stop Sageki! You'll fa-" Sakura shouted out, but it was too late. His silhouette could be seen falling backwards off the edge of the tower. Sakura sprinted to catch him but her run was significantly slower than usual. She arrived at the edge and swiped at the air, trying to grasp him. She jumped off the ledge, without thinking, as she shouted his name. Her outstretched arms were covered in seals. She gasped in shock, her chakra wasn't going to be able to save them! Fear raced through her as she realized they were going to die. Sakura reached for Sageki on the fall downward and he reached up for her but the sensation of falling down the building overwhelmed her. The concrete came racing up to meet that at a high speed.

Sakura jolted up in bed screaming, "SAGEKI!".

Her breathing was erratic and she was filled with panic. Sasuke was startled awake, he sat up and turned over to Sakura.

"What happened? Calm down." Sasuke sat up and placed his hand on her back. Sakura flinched at Sasuke's touch. She was so panicked. She turned to face Sasuke and saw the concern in his eyes. She threw her arms around his neck. She wanted to calm down but the anxiety was overwhelming. She was breathing heavily, searching the room for the words to describe this sensation. She said nothing but just kept breathing rapidly.

Sasuke was completely alarmed. He froze, considering whether or not to shake her off of him. Considering her panic, he decided against it. He knew she was the only one who held him when he went through so much worse. He placed his hand her back gingerly as she tried to collect herself in his arms. He let her take her time.

After a few moments Sakura was finally calming down.

Tired of sitting up, Sasuke slowly laid back down with Sakura in his arms. Once she noticed they were vertical, she removed her arms away from his neck and pressed them on the mattress next to him. She lifted her head up to meet Sasuke's eyes with confusion. "What-" she began to ask.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her then pressed his hand on her head to lay her down on his bare chest. She put up no resistance and laid on him. Her blush was unrelenting as she got herself comfortable. Resting her hand on his chest, she felt his soft skin. She could even smell his unique Sasuke scent. She closed her eyes and focused on the rise and fall of his chest as he covered her up with blankets and went back to sleep. She felt so warm and protected, it was a glorious feeling. She faded into sleep, thinking that no dream could be better than reality at the moment.

* * *

Sakura felt the covers pulled off of her. She grimaced at the cold and dug her face into Sasuke's chest.

"Oiy. Wake up" Sasuke commanded her with a stern voice.

He started sitting up, forcing Sakura to slide down his chest onto his lap. She rolled her back on his lap and stretched out with a yawn, arching her back. Sasuke took the opportunity to poke her in the ribs, breaking her stretch as she bent over to laugh. She slapped his hand away from attacking her rib again and sat up on the bed with a smile. Sasuke rubbed her head playfully as he got out of bed, turning her hair into a madman's nest. Sakura smacked his hand away as she quickly fixed her hair.

He turned on the bedside lamp and walked over to the bathroom. Sakura turned to watch him enter the bathroom with a stretch and a yawn. Biting her lip, she admired the countless muscles along his back and arms while he stretched. She smiled to herself and hoped one day they could be like this everyday.

Hopping out of the bed, she spotted the laundry basket on top of the broken wardrobe. She ran over to see that her Uchiha shirt was on the top, ready to be worn again! She was elated. She pulled out her black shorts and purple waist wrap with a smile.

"What size are your feet?" Sasuke asked watching her from the bathroom as he began brushing his teeth.

"Size 7" she replied,not thinking much of it.

"I have some old sandals that might fit you. They're underneath the bed" Sasuke said with a mouth full of paste.

Sakura turned to face the bed and ducked to look underneath. She crawled under the bed and pulled out three pairs of sandals. Trying on each one, the best fit was the sandals with the black shin guards attached. She sat up as she put them both on and did a bounce or two. She looked up to see Sasuke watching her from the bathroom, brushing his teeth as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Does this mean I get to leave?" Sakura asked innocently, confused as to why she was now given sandals…

"No." Sasuke replied, "you're coming with me as punishment for breaking my dresser".

A smile came over Sakura. This was her chance to escape! She wasn't about to refuse.

"Where are we going?" She asked, trying to hide her excitement.

"To town" Sasuke responded nonchalantly.

Sakura couldn't contain her evil little grin of happiness. Sasuke chuckled when he saw it. Sakura ran over to him and hugged him, showing him her appreciation.

"Oiy! Get off me" he told her as he poked her rib with the toothbrush. She let go with a giggle and ran back to the dresser to get her clothes and a fresh towel.

Sasuke held his annoyed glare at her as she came back into the bathroom.

"I'm going to shower now" Sakura chirped at him. She threw her clothes and towel on top of the hamper next to the bath. Waiting for him to leave.

Sasuke turned around to face her with disbelief in his eyes.

"No. I'm going to shower first. Get out." Sasuke informed her as he pointed to the door.

"I need boiling hot water though" Sakura said as she looked up at his stern glare. It no longer had any effect on her, she saw through it. She knew where she had him wrapped around her finger.

They stood glaring at each other in the bathroom for a few moments. Sakura slowly lifted her arms up to reach the knot behind her neck to undo the sarong. She paused and watched his response, expecting him to back off. Sasuke called her bluff, he wasn't about to get out of the bathroom.

"You're choosing the wrong person to call a bluff on, Uchiha Sasuke" Sakura informed him as she began undoing the knot. She held up the untied ends in both hands. Sasuke was breaking. A blush slowly began appearing across his face as she started to lower her hands.

"FINE" Sasuke huffed, "I'm getting out because I chose to, not because you wanted me to".

He dragged his feet out of the bathroom only to turn back around as he was passing the door to catch Sakura's evil grin again. She closed the door seconds after dropping the sarong.

Sasuke stood outside the bathroom trying to figure out what had just happened. He placed his palm on his forehead.

"That girl is the evilest little thing I have ever met" he whispered to himself.

Trying to decipher if that was a good or bad thing, Sasuke decide to get his mind off of it. He would shower in the commons to save time. Got fresh clothes from the basket on top of the shambles of the dresser and a towel before leaving the room.

* * *

By the time Sasuke returned, Sakura was dressed and ready to go. He opened his bedroom door to find Sakura sitting on his bed waiting for him. She jumped up to greet him, trying not to be too suspiciously happy about her chance to escape.

Sasuke looked her up and down for a moment. She wore the blue Uchiha shirt he cut up for her, her black tights, the purple cloth tied together and the long black sandals that came up to her knees.

"You're going to get wet" Sasuke told her casually, contemplating her outfit.

Sakura paused at the sentence. Her eyes shot open and darted around the room in confusion.

"What kind of response was that after that whole look me up and down motion?" Sakura asked with disgust and confusion.

Sasuke shook his head trying to claim innocence.

"ITS RAINING. The land of RAIN. Raining." He tried to correct her condescendingly. "Perv" he whispered as an afterthought while he reached into one of the broken drawers to pull out a long black cloak. He tossed it up at her as she pouted in the background.

She grabbed it and dramatically threw it over her shoulders.

"Hey. I've always wanted to be an evil villain. I feel like I would have a knack for it" Sakura joked as she posed like a vampire with the black cape dragging on the floor.

"Trust me, you took that crown a while ago, Mrs. Nomura" he joked at her expense as he walked over to grab his sword next to the bed. He took the ends of her cape and began to cut it to ankle height for her with his sword. He took a step back and turned his head to the side as he looked at her. Sakura held back her smile as she watched him look her over. She held out her arms and did a twirl to check if the cape was the right length. Looking back up at him she couldn't hold back her smile. He grinned at her, it was hard to deny that she was cute.

"It's funny. You can hardly see your horns from this angle" Sasuke commented as he placed his sword back in its sheath, happy with the length of the cape.

He walked over to the bedside table and took out a small money bag, stuffing it into his pockets. Without another word he turned off the bedside table lamp and headed for the door.

Sakura cleared her throat loudly, holding out her forearms for Sasuke to undo his seals. She tried to give him the biggest innocent smile she could muster.

Sasuke turned around to Sakura's forearm display and scoffed in her direction.

"I'm not stupid" Sasuke chuckled at her, "If you're self-conscious about it, then you can use my forearm wraps to cover up the markings". He pointed to the clean laundry hamper before turning back around to undo the seal of the bedroom. Sakura glared at him as she walked over to retrieve the black wraps and pull them on her forearms.

"Just know, if I lose sight of you- I'm activating those seals on your forearms to burn like nothing you've ever felt before" he threatened as he walked out of the room, leaving the door open for her. Sakura looked up in shock, she didn't know he could do that. She had to think of a plan to get out of these seals, they were going to be the death of her.

She ran to follow along-side Sasuke as he guided them out of the lair. There were some strange noises in the distance echoing through the halls. Sakura couldn't quite put her finger on it, but decided to ignore them.

* * *

It wasn't long before they ran into Suigestu and Jugo passing by in the hallway.

"If it isn't Sasuke and his kitten!?" Suigetsu hollered out with a big smile.

Sasuke exhaled deeply with irritation.

"Sui, Jugo. What are you two doing?" Sasuke asked. They stopped right in front of the two as Jugo waved at Sakura. Sakura shyly returned the wave.

"We were just on the way to ask you a question" Suigetsu said, "You see, we made the concoction just as you wrote it for cell number 3, but once we gave it to him it was just vomiting everywhere. It's pretty gross and still going on right now, Karen is trying to make sure he doesn't die. I just think we mixed up the concentrations wrong somewhere, do you mind if I went over it with you again?".

Sasuke nodded and looked over at Sakura.

"Stay. Here." Sasuke said sternly as he pointed to the ground at her, "I'll be back in a moment". Sakura shrugged and rested against the wall.

The three of them began walking down the hall and turned into an open room.

Sakura huffed. She couldn't believe Sasuke was helping them with torture. She was more insulted that they didn't want her opinion on the matter. She could do torture! They think that Konoha doesn't torture? Psh.

Moments had passed when Sakura heard the sharp scream of a girl. She instinctively ran off in the direction of the scream.

She turned the corner and ran down a hallway that had a few iron doors with holes in the center. It looked like prison doors, she could feel small amounts of various chakra coming out from behind the doors. She kept running to the scream, trying to ignore her senses telling her to turn back.

Sakura saw the red-haired girl from the previous day come out of one of the rooms. Her hair was disheveled and she was hunched over a open door as she held her arm in pain. Sakura arrived at her side and began quickly assessing her.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, startled. The girl looked up at her, wincing in pain.

"You again?" She groaned.

"Let me see your arm, I can heal it" Sakura said, holding her arm out to help her.

"I'm fine!" She shouted at Sakura, smacking her hand away.

Sakura got a jolt of electricity run down her spine. She suddenly caught the sense of a very familiar chakra. Sageki. Her eyes shot up in fear.

She ignored the girl and tried to open the door behind her further to see who was inside.

Sakura let out a loud scream as her seal began to seer into her and rise up further into her arms, flowing into her veins like a fiery poison.

Suigetsu, Sasuke and Jugo were walking down the hallway toward Sakura and Karin. Everyone grew alarmed at Sakura's sudden screams except Sasuke.

"I told you to wait in the hallway didn't I?" Sasuke screamed from down the hall.

Sakura bent over in pain and still had the energy to hold up her middle finger towards him. Sasuke inhaled with annoyance. He released the burn of the seal and Sakura fell to her knees.

The three men walked up to Karin and Sakura. Karin had a grin across her face, enjoying the entire situation. "What is she doing her? Are we finally putting her in a cell?" Karin asked.

Sasuke bent over and helped Sakura to her feet. Sakura glared at Sasuke as she stood up. He kept his hand on her back as he addressed his three teammates.

"I'll return in a couple of hours. Jugo is in charge while I'm gone." Sasuke commanded them.

"Wait wait! Where are you going Sasuke?" Karin asked inquisitively.

"Isn't it obvious? He's going on a date!" Suigetsu interjected, nudging Karin along with his elbow. Jugo shook his head, knowing that Suigetsu was just trying to rile her up. Sasuke also sighed, noting the same thing.

"Sui, stop it" Sasuke snapped at him.

"D-d-d-dddattee?!" Karin shouted out in alarm, "He's kidding right?!".

Sakura couldn't feel more awkward as she stood next to Sasuke rubbing her sore forearms.

"Sasuke isn't that kind of guy! Right Sasuke?! RIGHT?!" Karin yelled out. Sasuke rolled his eyes and led Sakura away from Karin as she began her rampage. Karin was screaming with outrage, calling Sasuke many names. Suigetsu was loving it, wrapped up in laughter as he hung on Jugo's shoulder. Jugo simply gave him a disapproving look.

Sakura walked with Sasuke down the hall away from the screaming redhead, his hand firmly on her back. Sakura turned around to give an apologetic grin to Karin.

Not steering his eyes away from the path in front of him, Sasuke caught Sakura's grin. "Don't do that. You're only feeding into her delusion" Sasuke mentioned to Sakura.

"I'll stop enjoying it when you stop first. Don't think I don't notice your hand" Sakura snapped back at him as she pushed his hand away from her back. Sasuke chuckled as they turned the corner.

"You _are_ evil" he said with a smile, "someone else wouldn't have caught that".

"You're worse! You didn't even deny her accusation" Sakura scoffed at Sasuke with her arms crossed.

"You didn't either. You don't even know her name and you've already slammed her into a dresser and taunted her as you walked away from her with me" Sasuke added with a grin.

Sakura stayed quiet, trying to hold back her smile.


	22. Chapter 22

Thank you so very much for the review

I hurried to get this chapter out for you, especially because it was Valentines week

〆(・∀・＠)

* * *

It was the first time Sakura had been outside in days. The grey overcast did not despair her excitement as she stood next to Sasuke just outside the lair entrance. A hill with a large field of tall grass and lavender blooms was right beneath them as they stood on the cliff base of a large mountain. Beyond the hill was a trail that ran through groves of skeleton trees leading toward the outline of a city in the horizon. The clouds of mist and humidity reigned over the city as though it was being haunted by it.

Sakura was captivated by the view. The smell of fresh mountain rain and lavenders was all around her. She inhaled deeply as a gust of wind past her by. Overtaken with joy, she looked up to smile at Sasuke.

"Can I?..." Sakura asked as she pointed at the purple field below them, past the base of the mountain.

"Can you what?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Her smile never stopped as she slowly grabbed Sasuke's hand and pulled him off the ledge of the mountain with her. Sasuke was completely taken by surprise, he had to run down the mountain alongside her to keep from falling. At such speed, he had to watch his footing. It didn't stop him from looking over at Sakura, who was thoroughly enjoying the sprint downward. The fresh cold wind whipping her hair around and filling her lungs gave her the feeling of freedom she craved. She had the biggest smile across her face. She looked to Sasuke at her side and began laughing when she saw his stunned face. He couldn't help but slowly smile back as he began enjoying the rush of the wind as well.

The terrain got rockier as they reached the end of the mountain, right before entering the open field. Sakura bounced from rock to rock along side Sasuke. Thoroughly enjoying himself, Sasuke sped up ahead and gave a big jump off the last rock of the mountain, landing a full twist with ease. Sakura set her jump off the same rock with a low crouch. Forgetting she had a cape on, she accidently set her footing on top the cape and tripped herself after jumping. She did a clumsy front flip and rolled out of the landing with the cape wrapping itself around her head.

Sasuke bit down on both his lips as he tried his best to withhold his entertainment. Unable to contain it, he blurted out a wholesome laugh that he hadn't felt in years.

Sakura peeled the cape off over her eyes and glared up at a laughing Sasuke.

"How have you," he was interrupted with more laughter " how have you made it this far as a ninja, Sakura?" Sasuke joked with her.

"What kind of ninja wears a cape!?" She shot up trying to smack the cape off of her head. She grabbed his arm and repeatedly punched it while he resumed laughing at her expense. Her weakened punches had no effect on him. Sakura grew frustraited, she decided to throw her hand back and slap his cheek instead.

He froze.

Shocked to feel her slap his face, Sasuke looked at her seriously, with disbelief in his eyes.

Sakura's eyes widened in response to Sasuke's look. She didn't think he would take it so harshly. She darted her eyes nervously and looked down at her hand with guilt. Unsure about what to do, Sakura thought to apologize. As she looked back up at him she saw the slightest little lift in his cheeks. Sakura inhaled with relief, he almost fooled her.

She quickly considered the best response. She held her hand upward, almost as though she were to caress his face in apology. As she got closer to him, she quickly whipped it across his cheek to slap him again for fooling her.

In a seconds notice she sprinted off into the high grass lavender field in front of them as fast as she could.

How could he contain the smile on his face at the audacity Sakura had to slap him again? Sasuke stood there struck with awe as he watched her run off into the field. It was a good head start for someone at such a disadvantage. He began the chase after her.

Sakura sprinted as low to the grass as possible so she would be harder to find. Sasuke ran ahead of her and crouched down along her running path to surprise her. He leapt up at her as she approached but she smoothly jumped over him, rolling off his back and continued running. He turned with a grin on his face, he was pleased that she was going to make this harder for him. He came back at her again from the side, wrapping his arm around her waist. A quick twist and she was free, sprinting in another direction. Sasuke chased after her some more, enjoying himself as they played cat and mouse together in the field for a while.

After a couple of minutes of vigorous dodging among the lavender fields, Sakura tried hiding in the long grass to catch her breath, kneeling down and staying quiet. She couldn't hear his feet anymore and felt like she lost him. She smiled and chuckled to herself, she couldn't remember the last time she played like this.

Her smile quickly faded as she felt her leg being pulled backward. Sakura tried to grip the ground as she was quickly dragged back and upward into the sky. Being held upside down just feet off of the ground, Sakura looked up to her foot. There stood Sasuke, panting out of breath, with his boyish grin as he claimed victor of the capture.

Sakura held her short crop shirt to her chest, as gravity was pulling down. Sakura stuck out her tongue at him. Sasuke saw her vulnerable point and poked her exposed abdomen relentlessly, trying to get her to drop her hands. She tried to smack his hand away but was at much disadvantage with all her laughter preventing her from focusing. Sasuke gave her a smile as he continued—

Until their play was interrupted.

"Well well" said an old female voice from behind them.

Sasuke immediately stopped smiling and dropped Sakura on the ground, turning to face the stranger. Sakura rolled out of Sasuke's drop gracefully and also turned around to see who it was.

An unknown lady stood before them, unbelievably old from the looks of it. She had her white hair braided, wearing an old red Yukata, complemented by two large white opal earrings, with a black shawl covering her shoulders as she held an umbrella and a large basket of various freshly cut flowers.

"It's the first time I see spring come to these lands" she commented with a smile.

"Good afternoon" Sakura formally greeted the lady as she stood up.

"Good afternoon" Sasuke repeated as well.

"What are you two lovebirds doing out here on a fine day as today?" The lady inquired with an old raspy voice.

"I'm sorry if we disturbed you, we were just on our way to town" Sakura apologized with another bow.

"We will be out of your way" Sasuke added.

"It is no bother, it has been far too many moons since I have witnessed such a display" she told them with a laugh. Sakura nervously smiled at the comment as Sasuke furrowed his brow. This lady definitely has the wrong impression, Sakura thought to herself.

"That hair color is so unique, I've never seen it before! Are you from around here?" She politely asked Sakura.

Sakura gave a nervous laugh, unsure how to respond. She couldn't exactly tell the old lady the truth; She was a Konoha ninja being held captive. Especially since Konoha citizens haven't been allowed into the land of Rain since the second Great War. Sakura froze, thinking of a response.

"She's new to town. Just married in from the Land of Sound" Sasuke commented in a serious tone, hoping to get another Nomura joke in before leaving on their way. Sakura jolted to attention when she heard his words, understanding the joke he was insinuating. She narrowed her eyes and darted her eyes to his response.

"My, my, my" the old lady said. She reached into her basket and pulled out a long pink Snapdragon flower that almost matched the color of Sakura's hair.

"I don't have much to give you as a welcome to the town, but please accept this- along with my blessing for such a beautiful couple" She said while handing the flower over to Sakura. " Please come by my flower shop whenever you like, I am across from the open market, you can't miss it" the lady said with a bow as Sakura accepted the flower. A blush grew across Sakura's face. She must have misconstrued Sasuke's words.

Sakura bowed and gave her deepest thanks for the flower. The lady waved as she walked away into the lavender field.

Sasuke and Sakura stood there for a moment considering the strange interaction.

Sakura looked down at the flower and bopped Sasuke on the head with it.

"Don't think I didn't catch on to your little Nomura joke there" she scolded him. He turned around, refusing to acknowledge her. He started heading towards the town as he did his best to hide his embarrassment of getting caught in their intimate situation..His poker face was key today.

Sakura smiled at the Snapdragon flower before following behind Sasuke. She continued along unphased by his sudden change in demeanor. She knew he didn't like showing emotions to others and was in no mood to press him on what she thought was really bugging him about the situation.

She followed along petting the lavender flowers in the grass as they walked along the field. After a while of walking in silence, allowing him to brood by himself, Sakura began plucking the prettiest lavender flowers and making a bouquet. She started humming a song quietly to herself as she covered her hair in lavender flowers.

Sasuke didn't need to look back to ensure she was behind him, he could hear her. He insisted on looking back every few minutes simply to catch a glimpse of her happy demeanor. He was a bit awed by it. In reflection, Sakura had been abandoned by him, captured, beaten, ridiculed, and starved. For someone who has been treated so terribly, she continued to follow him with happiness in her step.

As kids, he saw this loyalty in her as weakness, a symptom of her thirst for approval. Admittedly, she had skill in focusing chakra and she was smart to boot, but she never grew into herself because she didn't believe she was good enough. She just accepted she was weaker, running around with team 7 on pins and needles trying not to get in the way. Day by day hoping to just get by with their approval of her. Not trying to better herself for her own sake.

Things felt different.

 _She_ was different now.

She held an inner self assurance that he couldn't shake. No matter how much he continued ridiculding her, she kept her confidence. She was never like that before. She was a tender flower he had to be careful not to crush. Unlike before, he now believed in her abilities.

It was the most attractive thing he had ever seen about her, she grew into herself.

Her confidence wasn't just in their quick banter, it was in the way she didn't let anyone try to step on her. When she threatened that her seduction jitsu was better than his, when she made a break for an escape, when she slapped him on the field, when she fought Akatsuki alone at the auction...in her defiance, there was self-confidence.

Where a once timid Sakura followed behind him as kids, now an unbreakable- a confidently playful Sakura followed along humming as she plucked flowers.

It hit him, in a startling realization, that she followed along behind him in the field not because she had to. He no longer had the ability to make her go anywhere she didn't want to...listening to her singing, he could tell she simply wanted to follow him of her own free will. He felt confident she would follow him to the ends of the earth, but it was only now that he finally realized she was strong enough to do it. No one could characterize this loyalty she has for him as weakness, it was an important strength he hadn't picked up on before.

He looked back one more time as they reached the clearing, marking the road back to the city. Sakura had been throwing lavender flowers into Sasuke's spiky hair as he walked with his head down, thinking. He didn't notice until he saw turned to see Sakura's guilty smile as she paced behind him, her big green eyes and rosy cheeks highlighted by the purple field surrounding her. He grew suspicious of her… he turned his head, feeling the shift in the flowers in his hair. He quickly stopped and began shaking his head, smacking all the flowers out of his hair with furry. Once he felt they were all out of his hair, he looked up to glare at Sakura- who was already running ahead of him onto the paved road leading to the city.

Yes..

This was a new Sakura, and she was making it particularly hard for him to keep his poised demeanor during this trip. He had to be careful not to slip up once they were in town, he didn't want anyone noticing him doing anything out of his normal character. He looked down at the ground and picked up the pink snapdragon flower that matched Sakura's hair. Looking over to ensure Sakura didn't notice, he tucked it into a deep pocket in his cape before continuing to follow Sakura down the road.

Sasuke walked calmly to catch up with her.

Small street vendors and merchants were starting to appear as they progressed further into town. Sakura obediently waited for him to catch up. She walked alongside him, watching the people as they passed by.

"You really needed to get out huh?" Sasuke muttered to Sakura.

"What makes you say that?" Sakura chirped, watching the vendors making Takoyaki in a nearby stand. It began to sprinkle rain and the city building details became clearer as they approached the town.

"I saw you reading my scrolls on advanced chakra control" Sasuke commented, "only someone bored out of their mind, or suicidal people, read those"

"You mean the forbidden ones?" Sakura threw back at him. Sasuke refused to comment. They continued walking in silence as they entered the city

"I'll save you time and let you know that the inscriptions to the seals on your arms aren't in there" Sasuke said frankly to her.

"I wasn't particularly looking for that actually," Sakura lied, "I did find some good reading on the legend of the pearl though. A scroll talking about Indra and Asura" Sakura began explaining with interest.

"Give up on that" Sasuke interjected her.

"So you have heard of it, right?" Sakura asked, as innocently as possible. Playing stupid was her chance to get information out of Sasuke.

"It's just a fairytale. Thousands of people went crazy looking for that thing. It's not real" Sasuke informed her, with a matter-of-fact tone. Sakura wasn't buying it.

"Then why were you at BOTH those auctions if you don't believe in it? Looks to me like you were chasing it" Sakura asked him suspiciously.

He couldn't think of a good response. He didn't think he was going to be able to fool her, he decided to give her the information she needed to finally give up.

"The current day Hokage stones are, in reality, the same four elemental stones that Asura invented a long time ago, in the readings you probably reviewed. Once the pearl was deemed too dangerous for one person to hold, after a major incident occurred hundreds of years ago, it was locked up with the stones as the key to safeguard it. They wanted no one to get their hands on the pearl so they continued by dividing the stones amongst the strongest shinobi across the land. These people then came to become the Hokage and that's why it's called the Hokage stones" Sasuke told her.

Sakura began pondering Sasuke's words. It makes sense why Yuki was soon keen on getting the crest of the Hokage of the land of water, it's one of the stones to unlocking the pearl.

The crowd around them grew as the bustle of the city streets could now be heard. The rain was now steady as it drizzled over both of them.

"What countries currently have the Hokage stones? There's more than 4 countries now. If there's only four stones-" Sakura got interrupted again.

"Doesn't matter. There's no longer four stones, Sakura. We can't open the lock to the pearl if we don't have all of the four stones" Sasuke brushed her off.

"What! How do you know that?" Sakura pressed him.

"...Because my brother destroyed one of the stones" Sasuke confessed. Sakura was shocked, She stood for a moment, watching the rain hit the ground in front of his feet as he continued walking. Lost in thought, Sakura began contemplating

If Itachi destroyed it, why would Sasuke still be looking for it in the auctions? Why would he go through all the trouble? It didn't add up. She wanted to call his bluff.

"...when was the last time the Hokage stones were used?" Sakura questioned him.

"It doesn't matter" Sasuke snapped.

"What if Itachi pulled it out from the safe before he destroyed the stone?" She continued.

Sasuke grabbed her forearm and stopped walking.

"Listen. Stop. looking for it." Sasuke warned her.

"Why does it matter if I keep looking for it Sasuke? Why warn me 'so many times'? Why do all of this if you're so sure I won't be able to find it?" Sakura argued.

Sasuke held his silence as he glared at her.

"You're scared I'll find it, aren't you?" Sakura questioned him as her face moved closer to his, intensely searching his eyes for the answer.

Sasuke watched her eyes examine him. He mustered his sentence in a quiet but fierce tone through his teeth, gripping her forearm tighter.

"Akatsuki is after it, if you have it- then they will stop at nothing to get it. This is the only reason they _allowed_ me to kill Itachi…"

The death of Itachi played back in Sasuke's head as he told her the truth. He was cheek to cheek with Sakura, whispering in her ear the ugly truth he almost felt that shouldn't be said.

"Akatsuki suspected Itachi was lying to them. They wanted to ensure he didn't have it. Whoever has the pearl can not be killed. Once Itachi died, they grew sure he didn't have it. Then they recruited me to find the same fucking Pearl you're now hunting. To pick up where Itachi left off..." the hurt in his words could be felt by Sakura.

"...That's why you killed everyone at the auction?" Her eyes watered up with tears, only to be hidden by the rain coming down on them. "To ensure none of them had it?" Sakura gasped.

The sheer horror of her words pushed her to see Sasuke for the murderer he was...Did he kill Sageki? But,..what was that sensation in the dungeons back there? She had to investigate further before she started accusing him though. No. She had to shake the thought, she needed to investigate the cells when she got back. She knew in order for Sasuke to win the battle within himself, she had to be the person that showed him he wasn't a monster...Oh it was so very hard at the moment. She pictured poor Sageki getting sliced to bits painfully.

Sasuke watched the fear overcome Sakura's face as she analyzed him. The loving in her eyes had left, she looked at him only with disgust. It hurt to watch her look at him like that...

"If you were to get into the picture, do you understand the position that it puts me under?" Sasuke pleaded with her as Sakura shoved her forearm away from his grasp. She took a step back from him. Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment. He saw her look at him like a monster.

Sakura stood in silence, unsure of how to respond to all the information...

Sasuke shook his head and resumed walking, now with anger in his steps.

Sakura slowly followed behind him at a distance, rubbing her neck and trying to hold back her tears.

Deep in thought, she wasn't really paying much attention to how far deep into the city they walked. Minutes had passed and the rain poured down hard over them now. Sasuke continued leading her through the city, looking back every once in a while to make sure he didn't lose her.

Sasuke grazed the pink flower in his cape with his arm as he turned to say something to Sakura. He lost his words... He had forgotten about the sweet tune Sakura was humming, how happy she was in the field, how they played together.

Now he saw the same girl walking in the rain with tears in her eyes as she tried to look away from him. How many times had he done this to her? He let out a guilty sigh.

He stopped walking and reached out his arm to Sakura. She walked towards him slowly, she looked up to see him reaching out to her, she approached suspiciously. She watched his eyes closely as he waited for her with his arm outstretched. He put his hand on the top of her wet head and lowered his forehead to meet hers once she was close enough to him. He stared at her big green eyes and apologetically whispered to her, "You know how annoying you are right?".

Sakura lowered her chin while maintaining eye contact with Sasuke as she nodded her head.

"Are you really going to make me fight all of Akatsuki gang single handedly just because you want this tiny little pearl?" Sasuke asked her frankly.

Sakura looked to the side with her eyes for a moment before shaking her head in disagreement.

"You paused" Sasuke told her with shock in his words.

Sakura smiled, "No I didn't" she said with a laugh.

"Yes you did!" Sasuke scoffed with a smile.

Sasuke pulled his head away from hers,returning to his regular posture.

"We're taking a detour" he said as he placed his hand on her back and began walking eastward.

"Where to?" Sakura asked with concern as she began following him.

"A place I think you will like" Sasuke commented as they walked together into a busy alleyway between two large buildings.

"The best ramen shop this shitty place has to offer…" Sasuke added once they were in the hustle of the alleyway shops.

Sakura smiled to herself. That was the perfect thing to clear her mind at the moment.


	23. Chapter 23

Slaved away on my valentines week.

Not like my husband even notices I'm alive...

〆 (ノಠ ∩ಠ)ノ

hows this shitty week any different from the others?

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The alleyway was filled with hustle. Small square spaces built from the side of the buildings surprisingly contained many unique shops selling food and merchandise of all kinds. In front of the shops, along the heavy foot traffic were various advertisements of goods to be sold. Colorful cloths were layered along the top of the alleyway, stretching for miles. These cloths appeared to be for the functionality of blocking the never ending rain into the alley. Beyond the functionality, the light illuminated through the cloths, lighting the alleyway in hundred of colors. It felt like Sakura was walking inside an intricate painting. So beautiful, lively and exotic. There was nothing like this in Konoha!

The many smells among the alleyway was another factor driving her wildly in love with this place. Strange and unique to her, there was a stand selling pickled toad legs and another one selling hot cups of sweet mango curry with cinnamon. Her stomach was ravenous as she followed along behind Sasuke, masterfully weaving through the crowd in the alley. There was so much activity, so much chatter. The place was so alive that she wasn't sure where to look.

She turned around for a moment to eyeball a small child sprinting past the two of them holding a sweet sticky peach dripping in white cream. Sakura stopped dead in her tracks to consider what on earth he was holding and what it could taste like. What was that sauce? It looked amazing she thought to herself before suddenly getting bumped into by an old lady. The lady glared at Sakura and yelled at her to keep walking. A few men following closely behind the lady in the crowd eyed Sakura up and down as they passed by. Sakura was pushed to the side by the fast paced crowd. She looked around and noticed she accidentally lost Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" She called out. She stood nervously as people passed her by in a scurry. It was too loud, no way he could hear her. She looked around and tried to join back into the traffic towards the path Sasuke was leading her, maybe she could catch up to him.

She forced herself back into the crowd. She hadn't even been walking for a few minutes before she was suddenly overcome with complete terror. A hand landed on her right cheek just above her thigh, then a quick squeeze followed. A terrible feeling jolted up into her spine as her hairs stood on end,both shock and disgust. Sakura whipped around with her fists raised to strike behind her. Her instinctive jab was suddenly halted midair.

Appearing next to her was Sasuke. In one hand, he held her fist back from connecting a punch, and in the other hand, was her target. Sasuke was holding up a young teenager by his shirt just millimeters away from her fist. Sakura considered the situation in embarrassment as she looked at the teenager flinching in fear just millimeters in front of her fist, she eyeballed Sasuke. The crowd around them was watching them, assuming something terrible was about to happen. "Apologize" Sasuke commanded sternly to the teenager in an angry voice.

"I-I-I'm sor-rry" the teenager stuttered out, blocking his face with his forearms defensively. Sasuke exhaled as he closed his eyes. The stunned expression of embarrassment must have been written all over her face. An annoyed twitch overcame Sasuke's left eye as he let go of the teenager's shirt and dropped him on the floor. In a hurry he scurried off into the crowd trembling.

Sakura's eyes met Sasukes' as the crowd resumed their fast-paced walking around the two. Sasuke continued gripping her hand. While the world resumed, they got trapped in a strange moment where there was clear communication between the two of them. Their eyes held a silent conversation that needed no words.

Sakura could see the irritation in Sasuke's eyes and the lecture he intended for her. Her apologetic eyes met his. She could see his eyes were analyzing her face with care. His brow softened as he watched her in a sort of trance. Sakura gave an innocently apologetic smile before she saw him turn his head away from her in an irritated manner. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her along behind him.

"I can't take my eyes off of you for a second, can I?" Sasuke complained. He led her through the crowd, unwilling to turn around and expose a small lingering blush on his face.

Sakura was lost for words as she continued staring at Sasuke's hand wrapped around her wrist. Moments had passed by and she was still at a loss for words as she tried to figure out what exactly that strange moment was. There was such an immense connection. Did he feel it too? She continued contemplating it as she watched his hand on hers. She had almost expected him to simply set her forearm seals aflame again for disappearing, but he didn't. he gave her the benefit of the doubt and looked for her...

Finally, he stopped walking upon arriving in front of a unique little run down shop.

It was cheaply painted yellow and had faded drawings of boars around the outside of it. There was no entrance, just an open space leading to a counter and a few small tables with two seats each. A few people were already seated in the tiny little cramped tables. Sasuke lead Sakura into the shop. He stood next to an empty table and looked back over at Sakura. She followed removing her cape and placing it on the empty chair before taking a seat.

Sasuke eyeballed her with worry for a moment as she uncloaked herself and sat down. it did make sense to uncloak, seeing as how drenched Sakura was. This action unfortunately caught the attention of everyone in the shop. Her loose Uchiha shirt dangled off her shoulder as it clung to her skin. He decided to do the same as he slowly took off his cape, placing it gently on the chair. Sakura paid no mind to Sasuke's hesitant behavior and greeted the waiter as he walked up to them.

She took in the scenery of the small shop as Sasuke gave two ramen orders to the man. The nearby customers looked at the two of them like they had just seen a ghost. Sakura returned their gaze with in concern. Meanwhile, Sasuke considered Sakura.

She looked like a wet cat that was caught in a storm. Her pink hair was thoroughly soaked, appearing in a darker shade than normal as some of her hair clung to her wet cheek. Her face, neck and collarbone were also noticeably wet as the blue Uchiha shirt draped loosely around the edges of her shoulder, exposing her glistening neck line and collar bones. His eyes traced down to her wet shirt that clung to her skin, complimenting her feminine physique. Sakura caught Sasuke's traveling eyes for a split second before he returned them back to her eyes.

"I told you that you'd get wet" Sasuke said with a hint of smug enjoyment in his tone.

"No thanks for the cape huh?" She said, hinting at how soaked she got. What a useless cape, she thought to herself.

Sasuke bit the side of his lip as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"The most loyal cape I ever got" he muttered to himself as the server arrived, placing two hot teas in front of them. Sakura thanked the server as she was handed a tea, not catching Sasuke's words.

"What is this place?" She asked Sasuke before drinking some of the tea.

"This is the best ramen shop in The Land of Rain. It's famous for its 'Inoshishi Ramen'. It's a Tonkatsu broth with heavy slow roasted slices of thick chashu on top", he told her.

"That sounds amazing!" Sakura chirped. "I'm starving! There's the strangest food in this town, I want to try it all" she said energetically.

Sasuke placed his elbow on the table and rested his cheek in his hand, mostly to hid his grin. Her excitement was contagious. She was lost in her rant, describing all the different foods planned to eat as they walked through the alleyway. Her stomach gave a large growl, catching them both off guard. Sakura chuckled and gave an embarrassed shrug.

"I'm sorry. I haven't exactly remembered to feed you" Sasuke confessed to her, "...I've never even had a pet before, I'm not good at these things".

Sakura paused at Sasuke's words as he casually began to sip his tea with his free hand.

"..p-pet huh?" Sakura said with shock in her voice as she watched him.

Sasuke continued drinking his tea as his eyes scanned the room, regretting his words. He noticed a handful of customers entering the ramen shop and taking up seats nearby them. They entered with caution as they eyeballed Sakura's back from the corners of their eyes. They whispered among each other. His gaze returned to Sakura, who was still talking about something he was not paying attention to.

"and here I thought I was being upgraded from Nomura's prisoner. I'm just noticing that I'm actually being demoted into Sasuke's cat" Sakura said with a dubious look on her face.

Sasuke put his cup down before replying.

"Cat?", he asked in disbelief as he shook his head, "No no. Your official job title is actually damsel in distress, Sakura."

Sakura's jaw dropped. She was taken back by his response, downright insulted by it. Sasuke seemed to confused by the response written on her face.

"Don't you remember the part about the massacre and the chest tube incident" he informed her with an irritated tone. He raised the cup again to slowly sip his tea, carefully reading her reaction. She watched him, with raised eyebrow of disbelief.

She was speechless as she remembered his vague lack of response, or how exactly he placed the tube and wrapped up her bare chest with gauze. She decided to kindly let him have a piece of her mind about the facts.

"Yes. I'm was very thankful when you flipped the mattress on me to dislodge that tube. Or how you trapped me in a seal that sears my skin off at your command?" The intensity of her words magnified as she continued, "Maybe I should thank you as well for the parts I was unconscious for. You know, those parts you still haven't quite told me about, how does that go again?" Sakura asked inquisitively, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Sasuke choked on his tea at the question. He began coughing, taking his elbow off the table to cover his cough.

"The tea is hot today, isn't it?" He commented.

"Hmm. Seems just right to me" Sakura said with a smug tone, knowing he didn't want to answer. The air became thick between the two as Sasuke lightly blushed, looking around the shop.

The server came with two heaping bowls of hot steamy ramen. He placed them in front of Sasuke and Sakura timidly. Sakura's eyes lit up, the bowl was large, piled high with quarter thick slabs of chashu. The steam hit her nose and went straight to pluck her heart strings. She grabbed the chopsticks eagerly and gave the biggest smile before giving her thanks and digging in. Sasuke watched her bite the large chashu ravenously as it fell apart with each bite. She slurped the soup to help the meat go down.

"Be sure to chew, don't just swallow Sakura!" Sasuke scolded her with a smile. He was enjoying her face light up with each bite.

"ughhh...So good!" Sakura exclaimed after swallowing.

Sasuke caught himself giving her a warm smile as he watched her eat the ramen. He forgot all about the other people in the shop, his previous preoccupation with the strange men around them vanished. He caught himself staring at Sakura... Her big green eyes looked up at him from his bowl. Sasuke froze and cleared his throat before carefully beginning to eat as well.

The two of them enjoyed their ramen in silence, looking up every once in a while to watch the other eat.

Sasuke's hair was particularly flattering when it was wet, Sakura thought to herself as she looked up at him from her bowl. As he lowered his head to eat, Sakura could catch a good glimpse of the detail in his hair and his complexion. Enjoying the detail in his soft skin and his eye lashes from behind the steam of the ramen bowl, she was almost entranced. From the corner of her eye, she could also notice the customers in the restaurant watching them. Not feeling particularly threatened by the bunch, she continued eating and enjoying her view.

"So..." Sasuke said, not looking up from his bowl but noticing Sakura was watching him.

"How is the rest of team 7?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly, not looking up from his bowl. Sakura could read in-between the lines, he wanted to extract information from her. She knew the reunion of the two was bound to be a deadly one and no hint of remorse was held for Naruto's fate on behalf of Sasuke. He brought her here to butter her up to learn about Naruto and his progress...she almost forget she was his prisoner. Prisoners are kept alive only to extract information from them. Albeit she was not being tortured, the basis of a prisoner was still there. It reminded her of the chakra scent she picked up in the dungeon, Sageki. She couldn't forget her mission, she was being distracted by their little day out.

Surely, he brought her to this ramen shop for a specific reason. Ramen was an easy way for him to bring up Naruto she thought to herself. Sakura felt the misleading innocence in his voice. She refused to give him any information, she was a willing prisoner- here to extract her own information and make her own requests. She decided to talk about Kakashi instead, to dodge his interrogation.

"Well, before I caught up with you, I led a mission with Kakashi-Sensei to the Land of Water...He was doing good, at least he was before we got separated. He's probably looking for me as we speak" Sakura sighed before she continued eating. Sasuke gave a nod of understanding, a little bit sour that she didn't mention anything about Naruto.

"Kakashi was with you in The Land of Water? Shame I didn't get to see him" Sasuke commented before continuing to eat, not very interested in the subject. Sakura could see it wasn't the information he wanted, he was bored with it. She decided to spark his interest so that he didn't press on the subject of Naruto perfect subject to scatter his questioning crossed her mind.

"How come you didn't pick up on Kakashi's chakra in the cellar? I can't believe you ridicule me for being an inattentive ninja!" She chuckled at him. He smiled at her insult.

"you are" Sasuke flashed a smiled at her, remembering their silly little exchange the other day.

"I guess It's probably for the better that you two didn't cross paths after that that day, I don't think he could look you in the eye again after witnessing your seduction genjitsu secondhand" she said twirling the noodles in her bowl.

Sasuke spat out bits of ramen as he began coughing and choking on his food. After a good moment or two of trying to regain his composure he looked up at Sakura in shock.

"wait. He WHAT!?" Sasuke asked in disbelief with a hand covering his mouth.

"Yeah. I forgot to mention...Kakashi got me out of your seduction Jitsu." Sakura said nonchalantly, enjoying Sasuke's distress as she sipped the ramen noodles from her bowl.

Sasuke sat there with his eyes wide staring at Sakura in disbelief.

"Do you mean...He saw the genjitsu I put you under at the cemetary?!" Sasuke asked. Sakura put her bowl down and nodded with an evil smirk.

"You should've thought that one through a little bit more" Sakura told him with an eyebrow raised, "you are, a ninja after all right?" She critiqued him.

"He saw...ALL OF IT?" Sasuke mustered out the words with shock in his tone. It was refreshing for Sakura to see him in such a mess over his own faults.

"...Even" Sasuke paused and leaned forward, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention, "the shower part?" he whispered.

Sakura's eyes opened up.

"What shower part!?" She jumped.

Sasuke read her face, she never not to that part. He sighed in relief. He then completely started ignoring her and shook his head, running his hands through his hair.

"I knew I shouldn't have done that jitsu.." he told himself in regret.

"Wait wait wait! What shower part?!" Sakura asked, reaching over to pull on his sleeve. Sasuke pushed her hand away, refusing to comment further. He resumed eating his ramen, now concerned that Kakashi now has seen too much. He might have to kill him.

"Did you two separate after he saw that?" Sasuke asked, flustered.

"Things got a little weird after that" Sakura mentioned as she looked down at the table awkwardly.

"So, If Kakashi hadn't seen that and left, you wouldn't have left his side and in turn wouldn't have gotten captured by Nomura?" Sasuke calculated to himself.

"wait. what? Captured!? No!" Sakura stopped his thought process, "I was led to the land of sound by Nomura because YOU stupidly blew up the cargo ship we were on" she scolded him.

"There were innocent people on that ship and I had to sacrifice to make sure they were okay, Sasuke!" She continued, pointing the finger at him. Sasuke had never considered that consequences of his actions might have led Sakura to him. He stopped to consider how this was all linked to his multiple improper actions to stop Sakura in her tracks. None of these actions stopped her, but consequentially got her closer to him. How could he have prevented all this? Sasuke tried everything to make her go away. Every action to push her away led to bringing her back to him. It baffled him.

"...I think you're not understanding that I'm not the same Sasuke you once knew. To me those people are nothing. By destroying the main cargo ship between the mainland and the land of water, I was trying to make sure you stayed on that island in your jitsu for as long as possible so that you would lose my trail" Sasuke explained.

"I thought after the genjitsu ended, you would have been satisfied and stopped trying to follow me. You need to stay away from me Sakura. Look at all the eggshells I'm walking on with the Akatsuki, it's not safe for you to be near me. I needed you to stop chasing me, no matter the price." Sasuke tried to explain calmly to her.

"Those people mean nothing to me but you-" Sasuke cut himself short before he said too much. There was a silence between the two. They both looked down at the their bowl.

"Oh, get over yourself, Sasuke. I wasn't trying to chase you" Sakura finally argued with him. She saw the sting in her words hit him as he leaned back slightly. He considered her statement for a moment with a little bit of confusion. He considered if she was chasing after the pearl. A thought interrupted him suddenly.

When Sakura was speaking to Shichiro at the auction on the balcony, she was pleading to find a boy who she claimed was her brother. A unknown emotion sparked a inside of him, jealousy.

"Oh...You were looking for your boyfriend, was it?" Sasuke glared at her.

Sakura looked up at him nervously realizing he remembered that conversation between them before she knew he was actually Sasuke. During that conversation he knew all along she didn't have a brother. Had she only known that Shichiro was actually Sasuke in disguise, that entire night would have turned out differently. She would have never made up that obvious lie. She was choking on her response, replaying the words they shared back and forward that night with embarrassment in her eyes.

Sasuke scoffed at her silence in before returning to eat his ramen, angrily slurping his noodles. The mood changed dramatically. Sakura was shocked at this strange reaction from Sasuke. Her mind raced trying to justify what seemed like a jealous boyfriend pout.

"No. It's not like that" Sakura tried to deny his accusation, despite a delay in her rebuttal.

"I killed everyone in that auction and if I could go back I would kill everyone again but even slower. I would enjoy it more. I am not the same kid you once knew. I am a murderer and I soaked my hands with his organs without even remembering his face" Sasuke growled into his ramen bowl as he brought it up to his face to slurp the soup.

Sakura knew his words came from a place of hurt and discredited them. The people next to them who overheard the conversation, however, did not.

Sakura gave a nervous grin over at the customers next to them as they watched the two with wide eyes of terror. She became aware of the crowd gathering outside the shop, watching them. The strange men sitting around them with bad intentions written across their faces.

"Sasuke!" She snapped at him, lowering her voice, leaning forward to whisper to him "I know you didn't kill everyone at that auction and I need him back alive!"

Sasuke glared at her behind his soup bowl as he watched her like an angry child.

"If you let him go then I'll do whatever you want. We can do this for as long as you want, I can be your healer- a proper healer" Sakura pleaded to him.

"I can be your...pet. Sasuke's cat" she hesitated to say. Sasuke's eyebrow raised, confused about what she ment by pet.

"But please just let me see if he's in one of your cells" Sakura continued to plead to an angry Sasuke while she did her best puppy dog eyes.

"Wow. Stay my cat? Give up Konoha, everything? That's quite the trade for someone who doesn't mean anything to you. Why go that far, unless, I'm right?" Sasuke returned with scorn in his voice.

"It's not like that. It's because I promised his sister I would bring him back home alive" Sakura explained.

"That's a stupid reason. I'm not buying it" Sasuke said before finishing the soup in his bowl. Sakura glared at him. She was infuriated that he brushed off the truth so easily. She was irritated that he was so jealous, he was ignoring the truth.

He slammed the bowl on the table before reaching into his pockets to throw down three gold coins on the table. Sakura huffed as she took the hint to end the conversation and get ready to leave. She finished the last of the noodles in her bowl.

Sasuke stood up and began to put his coat back on. He froze at the sight of a row of people lined outside the shop watching them. He turned to look at the customers in the shop nervously eying the both of them, even the waiter was tense behind the counter as he watched them. Sakura stood up and noticed the same thing before putting her cape back on over her shoulders. Sakura paused, taking in the strange and tense environment.

Sasuke passed by her with his eyes closed heading for the alley, implying she hurry to follow him out of the shop. Sakura bowed to the waiter behind the counter, "Thank you, it was delicious". She got no response back. She turned to walk towards Sasuke as the people watched.

"...the last of the Uchiha?" Sakura caught a whisper between two people sitting at a far table. "Murderers" another whisper caught her ears. She turned her eyes up to Sasuke as she walked over to him, unsure if he heard it from the doorway towards the alley where the crowd made an open path for him to leave as they eyeballed him.

It reminded her of her epiphany yesterday that no one was ever on Sasuke's side. It was so clear in this very moment. Even as Sasuke stood before her in a jealous fit. I almost forgot that she had to be the lead that showed him that the world wasn't so dark. She had to be the person who was with him, on his side when no one else was. Only then could he understand love and change for the better. Regret ate at her for being so harsh with him. She had to remind herself that his anger came from a place of pain, and if Naruto had shown her anything- it was that pain is only solved with love.

Sasuke watched Sakura slowly walk over to him wrapping her cloak over her shoulders. He caught the whispers among the crowd outside of the shop and the eyes on the room following Sakura. The same kind of eyes that had followed him since childhood. "What kind of hair is that?" he heard a whisper directed at her. "Repulsive" another said. "She must be a murder too" an old man whispered to his friend.

Sasuke's anger shifted to guilt, he felt bad for placing Sakura in the situation where she is associated with him. He has handled these whispers all his life but didn't want Sakura to go through it. She doesn't deserve it. Maybe it was better that she had someone else, someone she could boldly walk down the street with. No one would want to stay with him and he can't blame them... Sasuke turned away from Sakura as she arrived at his side.

Sakura gave him a warm smile and grabbed onto the corner of his cape boldly. He looked down at the grip of her hand on his cape, next to his hand, before looking up at her smiling back at him. A strange feeling overcame him. For the first time, Sakura was bearing the burden of his name with the Uchiha crest on her back. Sakura didn't know that the cloak was so that no one would see the Uchiha crest on the back of her shirt, to avoid such a situation as this.

I strange feeling overcame him as he watched his hand next to hers. Sakura took the jeering eyes and the awkward tension that he lived under most of his life and she didn't waver. She stood boldly at his side.

He inhaled and raised his head up as she watched him.

He thought to say something redeeming to her, but he decided against it.

Sakura looked up at him, confused at his hesitation to leave when he had been in such a hurry moments ago. She caught the glisten in his eye.

"...are you feeling okay?" She asked. Sasuke ignored her and carried onward into the crowd in silence. Sakura proudly in tow, clinging to his cloak faithfully.

Now she understood that the cape was not for the rain.. It was to prevent the jeering stares if anyone knew he was an Uchiha. She turned her head to look back at the crowd gawking at the two walking away.

It was ment to hide his shame...


	24. Chapter 24

〆(・∀・＠)

Please review if you like it

I will update much more frequently

if I get interest in the story from the readers

Thanks

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Sakura walked in a haze down the crowded streets for a while. She clung to Sasuke's cape as she was tossed around by the passing foot traffic. She didn't mind, she was busy contemplating the entire situation that had just occurred between Sasuke and her. These past few days had to be the most interaction she's had with Sasuke in many years, and it was a lot to consider.

Guilt had overtaken her many times for enjoying her finite time with Sasuke and it blocked her from truly contemplating her mission and her escape plan.

Today was a bit different than the other days, it had taken a much darker tone than she had anticipated. She was able to retrieve a lot of important information, it wasn't all fun and games. As far as she knew, she needed no more information from him. She knew Itachi was chasing the pearl. After killing Itachi, Sasuke joined Akatsuki to help him destroy Konoha at the price of retrieving the pearl that Itachi could not attain. Sasuke claims that he is refusing to look for the pearl, but despite his words- Sakura knows he goes around to different lands when rumors of the pearl appear. So he must be looking for the pearl.

A few ancient documents referred to the holder of the pearl, whoever it may be at any given moment, as "the grim reaper". Sasuke must be running around groups of people that he suspects holds the grim reaper may be in. Expecting that the person actually holding the pearl would not be able to be defeated. Thats the thing about the pearl, if you have limitless healing and ability to revive the dead, it makes the user somewhat immortal. One would have to stun the user long enough to remove the pearl before they could regenerate or revive themselves.

Analyzing group Taka's patterns, it seems they kidnap and retains anyone who has information on the pearl as a prisoner- hoping they provide clues. Sageki _must_ be one of them...she knew that chakra very well. A flash back reminded her of that night at the new year party in Konoha. The sounds of the izakaya in the background included drunken screams and laughing, someone singing. The dim lighting of the izakaya highlighted Sageki's manly facial features as he sat next to Sakura alone at the edge of the bar watching their drunken friends. Sageki's blue eyes locked on hers as her vision swayed about. Sageki put his hand on her cheek, his chakra coursed her skin. Sakura looked down at his hand on her face, shock written on drunken red face. She turned her eyes to meet Sageki's only to find his face just inches away from hers. His eyes met hers and slowly trailed down to her lips. Sakura was unsure of how to respond or what to do. She was going to pull away and walk off but guilt hit her gut. She watched Sageki look at her for years the way she use to look at Sasuke. OH Sakura always wondered and dreamed about how Sasuke's lips tasted, it tortured her. She didn't want to cast that on Sageki, she didn't want to be his torture in the way Sasuke tortured her. Maybe if she gave Sageki a taste, the mystery would die, the magic would disappear and she could prevent his torture. In just one kiss she could prevent so much suffering. Maybe just one wouldn't hurt anyone.

...Sakura leaned forward but hesitated, almost nauseous to think about kissing Sageki. Pausing, she was determined to go through with it- for Sageki's sake. She closed her eyes and pictured Sasuke before her. In a moment, she pressed forward and met her lips with Sageki's.

Sageki exhaled into her lips, in disbelief. He ran his hand from her cheek through her hair and to the back of her head, using it to press her deep into the kiss. Sageki's tounge met hers as he turned his head to kiss her passionately. Sakura imagined that it was Sasuke's tongue, Sasuke's lips. Moments passed and she couldn't shake off the sense of Sageki's chakra in her mouth and coursing through her veins- it disillusioned her. Sasuke's chakra was sweet and familiar, she craved Sasuke's chakra and suddenly couldn't continue further. She pulled away from Sageki with distaste. It was too late, Naruto and half of the Izakaya was watching them and cheering them on. Sakura looked over in shock as everyone hooted and screamed in delight. She looked back at Sageki, who was bright red and gazing at her with mesmerized eyes. 'fuck!' Sakura thought to herself as she excused herself to the bathroom.

She leaned on the sink in the bathroom, trying to rid her mouth of Sageki's chakra by swishing the running water and spitting it out. She ran her hands through her hair, looking up at the mirror she felt nauseous thinking about the kiss all over again. Sageki's damn chakra lingered for weeks after that, haunting her. She could pick up his chakra from a mile away. That chakra in the dungeon was no doubt Sageki's.

She returned back into reality, walking through the streets with Sasuke. A chill ran down her spine. She needed to get out of this situation soon, but in order to set the plan in motion she needed Sasuke's trust. At the rate of the day, she was going to loosing him in a jealous fit. She had to figure out a way to lighten the mood of the day, especially if her plan to escape was to go smoothly.

Sakura missed Sasuke's company she couldn't be herself because her guilt of planning betray him in order to save Sageki really ate at relationship was naturally effortless and enjoyable. They connected well together, Sasuke and her. She could regain his trust easily if she just let go of the mission. She secretly wanted to enjoy her short time together with him. Selfishly, she didn't want one of their last memories together to be one full of tension, she really did care for Sasuke.

Unaware of the time passing her by, she suddenly looked around to notice that they were in a different part of town. The streets were wide and the wet cobblestone beneath her feet was clean and sleek. The shops around them had fine architecture and dim street lighting that suited the rainy atmosphere elegantly. There were few people strolling in fine clothing under the gloomy streetlight in their umbrellas. Sakura's mouth opened in awe by the romantic change in scenery. She eyed the street up and down, noting it to be a fashion district without too much foot traffic.

Her feet stopped beneath her when she spotted a cute pastel lingerie boutique at the corner of the street. It was the same kind of shop where she bought her favorite panties, currently sitting at home waiting for her. They didn't have one of those in Konoha anymore. She inhaled deeply and daydreamed about stretching out on her comfortable bed. She smiled into the distance, forgetting to notice a curious Sasuke standing next to her watching her entire reaction. He looked up at the boutique in consideration.

Before Sakura noticed what was happening, she felt a hand open up her palm and place two large coins in it. She looked down at her hand, snapping out of her daydream, then continued to look up to Sasuke in confusion. He nodded at her then turned his gaze at the shop. She followed his eyes and her own eyes lit up, he understood. Sakura gave him a big smile and squeezed his arm in appreciation. Their warm connection was rekindled. It felt as though Sasuke may have also wanted to fix the sour mood that had infested their good day as well. Her eyes rose up to meet his, but he looked away.

"I will be across the street at the scroll and ink shop, regroup here in ten minutes" he told her sternly. Sakura nodded with enthusiasm before racing to the boutique. Sasuke shook his head in disbelief at what a girl Sakura was capable of being.

When they were kids, her femininity had never came to his consideration. She was adorable since she was a child, but his idea of her had never crossed into anything beyond familiar affection. It was strange for him to see her in this new adult feminine light, he couldn't seem to put a name to the feeling. He walked away in deep thought...

As Sakura entered the store energetically, she soon realized that two coins was practically enough to purchase half the store. The store even opened out to include a dress store next door. Sakura was beyond herself in excitement. She picked out a few pair of cute and comfortable underwear, much like her favorite ones at home. A few new bras that would support her small bust from being exposed underneath her short Uchiha shirt. Early today she was almost exposed by Sasuke holding her upside down, she needed some proper cover.

She wandered over to the dress section, discovering a perfect black cocktail dress before continuing on her way. Ignoring the time, she skimmed across the shop till she finally came across the section she enjoys referring to as, "more strings than cloth". Normally she had never given such a section a double look, but in spite of recent events, it had secretly caught her attention. She looked around, checking if the coast was clear before walking quietly over to a tight lace corset that peaked her interest. Secretly trying to look it over, she decided to pull it off the shelf to inspect it.

A nearby store clerk noticed Sakura from afar and shouted out, "that's a fine corset!".

The voice had quickly sent Sakura's heart rate through the roof, her spine almost flew out towards the ceiling. To her horror, Sakura turned around to notice the clerk walking towards her, a 40 year old woman in a nice button up shirt and black silk pants. The clerk arrived in front of a heightened Sakura then reached over to grab a nearby garter belt with laced thigh high stocking.

"You should think about matching it with a nice garter belt and some laced stockings" the clerk suggested as she held up the products to Sakura's figure. Sakura stood frozen in embarrassment, she didn't want to be caught dead looking at such things.

The clerk grew confused with Sakura's lack of reply and general stunned expression. She held up the corset Sakura was holding, viewing it together with the garter belt against Sakura's figure. The clerk began some sales rant about how they pair well, but Sakura ushered the lady's suggestions away with her hands.

"N—n-n-oooo, thank you" Sakura said with a painful wince.

"Well, how about your husband?" The clerk asked politely, looking over Sakura's shoulder. Sakura shook her head, "nooo, I don't-", she refuted before being cut off.

"Wellll," She heard a familiar man's voice say, just behind her shoulder. Sakura was stunned, although relieved that it was definitely not Sasuke's voice.

"It's not usually my thing, but I would have to get her to try it on, just to be sure" the man continued to say.

In overwhelming disbelief, Sakura threw her head back at the strangers absurd comment. Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw who it was. Kuroma Shichiro, Sasuke's alternate 30 year old kingpin form stood behind her. He wasn't simply standing behind her, he was looming over her, eyeballing the lingerie pressed against her body by the clerk.

It was now confirmed that Sakura's soul had indeed left her body. After a few baffled moments she snapped the clothes out of the clerks hands, tossing it to the floor. She glared at the clerk and turned to look at Shichiro. His grin was obvious and he pressed his lips together, looking away from Sakura innocently.

"Couldn't wait outside huh?" Sakura asked through her teeth at him.

"It's been over ten minutes" Shichiro innocently informed her, "I don't know if you had snuck off or were in danger. Thought I should just check before I burn your forearms off."

"I'm sorry. I specifically remember you making my bra magically disappear. I thought you wouldn't mind me taking a few extra minutes to replace that" sarcastically told him.

"Is that really what's taking so long?" he said as he raised his eyebrow with a smile, eyeballing the dirty lingerie section that a Sakura was standing in.

Sakura rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I will go pay. Just meet me in the front".

"If I have to come back in here, I'm making you wear it home" he threatened her with half a smile as she walked away from him.

Sakura huffed as she whirled around preceding to the cash register with a blush across her face.

* * *

After a few minutes had passed, Sakura pranced up to a contemplative Shichiro waiting outside of the store with a bag of purchases in hand.

"Someone's easy to please" Shichiro pointed out to her, watching Sakura's new happy demeanor.

"Likewise," Sakura replied, looking at the small bag in his hand.

"What did you get?" Sakura inquired sweetly.

"Some good brushes for calligraphy and sealing" Shichiro commented as he held up the small bag. He stretched out his arm to the east, leading Sakura to walk up the street with him. They walked for a couple steps into a stroll, integrating into the regular foot traffic around them.

"Want to know what I got?" Sakura asked him playfully

"I'm too scared to want to know what you got" Shichiro joked playfully with a quick roll of his eyes. Sakura flicked his shoulder for his comment.

"I got a fancy cocktail dress!" Sakura corrected him.

"From a lingerie store?" Shichiro asked purplexed.

"It was attached to the clothing store next to it" Sakura explained with her hand out.

"Oh. That's why it took so long, huh? Had nothing to do with the other thing, I'm sure" Shichiro said as he shot his eyes down to her condescendingly. Sakura did her best to ignore his sarcastic remark, trying not to spoil the mood.

"I was thinking that maybe I could cook for you tonight?" Sakura asked politely.

"Cook?" Shichiro spoke out with surprise.

"Yeah. I was really inspired from that soft boar meat from the Ramen shop. If that boar meat really is a trademark of this town, I would really like to get my hands on it. I could make a killer leg roast that could change your whole outlook on life" Sakura said enthusiastically.

"Well, when you put it like that, we could pass by the street market on the way back home. There's a good butcher shop there and lots of vegtables" Shichiro said with a grin, obviously delighted by the subject of good food.

"Excellent. I hope there will be good cheese wine and bread. I can make a tomato caprese with the best Alfafa salad you've ever had." Sakura shrugged up her shoulders in excitement before she continued explaining the dishes further.

Shichiro walked beside her, listening in an almost trance like state.

'Ahhh. There is it', he thought to himself, 'Good old, rambling Sakura'. There was nothing cuter than an excited Sakura, maybe a fuming Sakura, but not much else in life was cuter than that. Even the people walking by them on the sidewalk had to turn and watch her joyful excitement as she rambled on. This was the Sakura he had always known.

Seeing her in that shop, with the lingerie, it made Sasuke analyze some uncomfortable thoughts that have recently came and gone quickly from his head. Sakura was different than the adorable Sakura he knew as a child. There was a seductive and entrancing Sakura he was only starting to get to know. A side of her never met before. The thoughts would attack him from time to time; the chest tube, the book, his clothing on her, her bare back as she slept, her soft skin, or the simple way she rested her weight on his chest when she slept. Before he knew it, Sasuke started to feel his cheeks flush with warmth thinking about these instances.

"That's quite the statement" he smiled at her, "theres nothing better than someone who enjoys cooking. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you trying to wife me, Mrs. Nomura" Shichiro joked, looking away from her. Sakura caught the blush in his smile before he turned away from her.

"Of course I am." Sakura replied. Sasuke could only flinch before she continued.

"After all, the dirty lingerie I bought was for you" Sakura insisted. She caught sight of Sasuke's cheeks rising up, he pursed his lips trying to hold back his laughter. Sakura new he caught her sarcasm. She had him. Assuming Sasuke was going to take on the feminine figure in her hypothetical joke, she decided it would be funny if she took the masculine role. She did an impression of the best overly masculine pickup line she had ever heard, "When I'm done with you, you'll have a whole new orifice and some rearranged bones" Sakura said mimicking a deep manly tone. Sakura once heard that line from a man at a bar before snapping his rib cage, she thought it was the funniest thing. She was glad to finally be able to use it in a joke.

"Jesus Christ" Shichiro blurted out in a lighthearted panic. He covered Sakura's mouth before he looked around to the people eyeballing them as they passed along the sidewalk. He gave them a silent nod to carry on while keeping his hands on Sakura's mouth.

"This is how people start talking!" He snapped at her quickly, referring to their previous joke the other day in the room.

Sakura giggled behind the cover of his hands.

He watched her laughing behind his hands and couldn't hold back his laugh.

An honest thought came to Sasuke at this moment. It wished to always keep this warmth inside of him. This feeling of when he was with her. With that single thought, it dawned on him. In analysis of his thought,….He now knew what his previous thoughts ment to tell him..He knew he was now fucked.

The prisoner had become the captor.

Sasuke closed his eyes and rolled them as they continued walking, Sakura's laughter in the background.

* * *

Sakura was surprised at the size of the furniture store they arrived to. It was an elegant dark stone building with large windows and fancy writing along the windows. There were many people walking by the store, gawking at it, but no one entering.

Shichiro lead the way into the store with Sakura obediently behind him.

Immediately, her mouth gaped open as they entered. Crystal chandeliers, marble walls, impeccable lighting. Sakura would never enter this store in her wildest dreams, she thought to herself. A man in a suit approached them casually before the look of bewilderment overcame his eyes.

"Mr. Kuroma Shichiro! What an honor to have you here" The clerk said as he reached his arm out to shake hands before giving a slight bow. He looked up and smiled at the both of them. He continued his elongated formal introduction before catching Sakura's eyes.

"Who is this lovely little thing?" The man added upon noticing her..

"My name is-" Sakura began introducing herself before she got cut off.

"This is my wife" Shichiro commented. Sakura choked on the air in shock.

"She said she would like to see your dressers, please direct us to it" Shichiro said with a refined tongue and his head held high.

"But of course! We have the finest dressers! You really have chosen the best gallery for dressers!" The attendant boasted with excitement before leading further into the store. The two men continued forward before Shichiro noticed that Sakura was no longer walking next to him, but still standing at the entrance. Shichiro looked back at the frozen Sakura, cheeks as pink as her hair, with her eyes wide open. He walked back to her with confusion in his eyes. He placed his hand on her back, guiding her into a stride closely beside him. They strolled toward the clerk who was waiting for them.

"Don't run around telling people your name. Why do you think I have this disguise?" Shichiro whispered into her ear as they approached the clerk together. He looked at the features of her stunned face with great detail as he was inches next to her ear. Her eyelashes, her button nose, the green in her eyes, the young and clear skin on her face. Almost caught in surprise he was admiring her, he tried his best to seem normal.

"Now act like royalty, lose the clumsy walk. You're walking less like a refined housecat and more like a drunken goose" he whispered in her ear affectionately with a smile on his face. Sakura snickered aloud at his remark. She smacked his chest lightly with a laugh. She lost all the tension she was withholding.

The clerk looked back to watch Shichiro leading his wife, leaning down and whispering into her ear fondly. Shichiro's eyes carefully considering her before leaning into her ear again. She erupted into a snicker as the most loving smile overcame Shichiro's face. The two looked like the opitmy of love, the clerk thought to himself. He walked ahead of them, giving them some space to interact with one another. It was the first time he had heard of the notorious kingpin Kuroma Shichiro having a wife, but the woman looked vaguely familiar from somewhere. He made a mental note of this to gather more information after they left.

As they arrived to the vast amount of dressers in the expensive shop, the clerk turned to the couple, "anything in particular you are looking for in a dresser, Mrs. Shichiro?".

Sakura paused and looked up at Shichiro with a look of question on her face. He remained quiet, leaving her to decide. It dawned on her suddenly, what she would like to see most.

"Something very heavy. The heaviest dresser you have" Sakura politely said.

" oh.. okay. We have a few heavy glass dressers" the clerk commented, "The latest style from-" he got cut short.

"No, has to be very very sturdy" Sakura interjected. She walked amongst the vast amount of dressers, examining each one for a few moments. Shichiro stood next to the clerk watching Sakura examine the dressers. The clerk stood next to Shichiro as they both watched Sakura examine the dressers.

"Our last one snapped in half, its a problem" Shichiro added as he continued the conversation between the clerk. The clerk nodded with a tilted smile, but quickly gave a look that implied it was more information than he ever wanted to know.

Sakura reached a large dark tan dresser that was bigger than Sasuke's original dresser in the room. She jumped up on top of it with a pounding of her weight.

The clerk jerked his head back.

"I'll buy it if she breaks it. She's just testing it" Shichiro reassured the concerned clerk.

Sakura joked aloud with her deep masculine voice at the two men, "It's gotta be sturdy enough to take a few new orifices'!". A joke intended for Shichiro to break character.

Shichiro opened his eyes at her and held his finger up in a threatening manner as the clerk stood next to him watching Sakura with bewilderment. 'Royalty' Shichiro mouthed to her from afar.

"Well, ma'am, that one is made of grey willow, so you shouldn't be able to make any new orifices on that dresser, I assure you, it's one of the sturdiest" the clerk commended.

"I wasn't talking about the dresser" Loud enough for Shichiro to hear her sexual innuendo. He rose his hand to cover his eyes in distress. Sakura looked back at the tormented kingpin, biting his lips to withhold his smile. She caught his raised cheeks as he tried to hide the humor he found in the situation, it said everything to her. Sakura giggled to herself as she walked over to another dresser. It was a dark grey marble, she leaned against the dresser with her back to the two men. Shichiro sighed and lowered his hand. He looked over at Sakura, who was now attending a different dresser with her back arched as she pressed her weight trying to tilt it.

The clerk looked over at Shichiro and asked something that he was unable to comprehend. Shichiro snapped out of his gaze of Sakura leaning on the dresser.

"Yes?" Shichiro asked the clerk, a little startled.

"Would you like to look at the others in our back storage unit?" He repeated.

"No, I think I'm looking at the best one" Shichiro said without taking his eyes off of Sakura. The clerk paused and looked over at Sakura, who was now kneeling on top of the black dresser with her back to the two men. She leaned over the edge of the dresser, examining something.

"...are we...still talking about the dresser?" The clerk asked with a confused tone as he watched Shichiro's drunken gaze. Sakura leaned over the edge of the dresser and saw the price tag that read 3 golden coins, she gasped for a second. After thinking about it, she wasn't paying for it. She shrugged before jumping down swiftly off of it. She leaned over and unsuccessfully tried to lift up the dresser from the bottom of it.

"How do you like our dark marble collection dressers?" The clerk called out to her as he tried to stop Sakura from destroying the dresser.

"Love it. Do you guys do delivery?" Sakura asked as she walked over to the two men.

"But, of course, we do" the clerk assured her.

"Good. Because we only want this delivered half the way to the destination" Sakura added. Shichiro looked over at her in confusion.

"It can all be arranged, please give me a moment to get the papers on my desk for purchasing" the clerk said as he hurried over to another corner of the store.

It was just the two of them, standing in silence for a moment once the clerk dissapeared. Shichiro looked at Sakura inquisitively for her strange delivery request. Sakura gave him a clever smile, understanding his confusion.

"If you think I'm going to miss the chance to watch your teammates carry the heaviest fkcing dresser I've ever seen in my life up a mountain and into that tight maze of a lair, then you don't know me" Sakura informed him with humor in her voice.

Shichiro, completely caught off guard by that explanation, blurted out into laughter.

"Just the thought alone, is pure gold. I can't wait" Sakura said as she clasped her fingers in excitement, "picture it now, we can be sipping wine by the mountain side with some fine cheese and bread as we watch them argue about which way to pivot the ungodly dresser up the mountain"

"That's why you wanted it to be heavy, huh?" Shichiro said with a laugh.

"Plotting is my thing" Sakura admitted with pride in her smile.

"You are so evil" Shichiro commented to her as his laughter died down.

"Thanks. I could teach you, if you like" Sakura told him confidently with a wink and a shoulder raised up to meet her adorable head tilt . She looked at him with a sweet smile, "the cover charge is pretty high, but I'm sure you could use a couple rearranged bones, if you know what I mean" she joked.

Shichiro pinched Sakura's cheeks together with one hand in aggressive adoration. Sakura looked up at him with her big green eyes as her mouth squeezed together like a fish. He gave her a big smile before he caught the clerk turning the corner to greet them with the papers to purchase the dresser. Shichiro quickly removed his hand from Sakura's face, trying to gather his finess again in front of the clerk.

* * *

The date and time had been set. Tomorrow, just before sunset the dresser would be delivered to the road that ended just before the lavender field. The two spent the rest of the day in high spirits together, awaiting their upcoming night of entertainment.

Sasuke returned to his regular form before the two strolled through the open street market. It was even better than old times. They laughed as they walked about telling each other stories of failed missions, hilarious encounters and mistakes they've made.

Sakura collected the ingredients for dinner while talking to Sasuke. She spoke with such enthusiasm and passion that he couldn't help be engulfed in her words. Silently, he watched her pick out tomatoes as she lectured him on how to check when its ripest. She looked up at his eyes to see if he was listening to her. His distant gaze caught her off guard. It was the first time she had noticed him giving her this look. She knew that look well.

Sakura decided to throw the tomato she held in her hands upward in front of him, much like Kakashi did to her with the ninja star in the ship. It took a solid moment for Sasuke to respond, but he quickly caught the tomato just as it almost past his knees to meet the floor. She smiled at him as he scolded her for tossing the tomato at him.

In this simple action, she confirmed her suspicions. She blushed in realization as she got scolded, fidgeting with the bags in her hand.

* * *

They walked together back home, lost in conversation. The same lavender field played a symphony of smells for them. This time the field was soaked in the gold colors of sunset dying out to the purplish hue of the sky. The mixing of the vibrant colors made the world around them seem unreal. The sky and the flowers beneath them matched in beauty as time no longer had a grasp on the world around them. They walked closely next to each other, carrying their bags in a leisurely stroll, as though they had all the time in the world. Sakura plucked a lavender and placed it into her bag every once in a while, enjoying the scenery they were immersed in. She never wanted to forget this feeling of magic within her, hoping that taking a handful of lavender home might extend it.

To each of them, the slow walk had lasted forever, yet it seemed so short.

When they reached the entrance of the lair at the base of the mountain, they both took a moment to admire the scenery behind them. The stars had already arrived in the sky and the last rays of sunlight were dying out behind the horizon. The valley was darkening and a solemn mood overtook the cheerful atmosphere from the morning.

Sasuke had probably seen this same view a couple dozen times, but never had he felt it the way he did today. Calm and peace resonated within him on such a new level that he had to inhale to believe it was real. He looked over at Sakura who was also gazing out into the valley's beauty with awe. She looked up at him with a thankful smile. Sasuke returned her gaze with a peaceful smile of appreciation. They locked eyes, trapped in a whirl of magnetic energy for a full minute. The wind blew their hair softly across each other's faces, none of the two willing to break their gaze...It was like a secret communication channel only the two shared. Without words, they each felt understood.

Sakura cleared her throat and turned to face the valley again.

"This meat has to marinate overnight,so I will get it ready for dinner tomorrow night" she briefed Sasuke, avoiding further eye contact with him. Sasuke turned to face the entrance of the lair, slightly embarrassed he got taken away by the moment. He rubbed his chin as he looked down, "yeah. I'll show you to the kitchen and we can put this stuff away, I'm going to have to meet up with the team to go over some business I may have missed after that"... His expression saddened before he walked toward the entrance of the lair. Sakura followed behind him obediently before taking a final look at the last rays of light disappear.


	25. Chapter 25

Sakura quietly marinated the meat in the large stainless steel kitchen within the mountain lair. Across the kitchen, Sasuke maintained a serious composure. He was leaning against a counter, arms crossed, getting report of the day from his teammates on the other side of the kitchen. The few words that Sakura made out of the report, it seems things did not go well. Sakura kept looking up at his subtly angered demeanor from his side facing away from her. Sasuke did not reply much to his three teammates during the conversation. It was apparent Sasuke would have a busy night because they handled the day very poorly in his absence, from what Sakura heard.

Finally, placing the marinated meat into the large refrigerator, she washed all her utensils and cleaned the kitchen slowly. Every so often would look up to watch Sasuke's stern face in leadership mode. Sakura was admiringly enamored by his stoic look, his strong jaw and contemplative eyes made her heart flutter as he listened to his teammates. His iris shot over to Sakura quickly from the corner of his eye. She got caught gazing at him from afar. She frantically continued cleaning the same spot on the counter top for the 9th time. It seems none of this went unnoticed by Sasuke. He raised his hand up to Suigetsu's face mid sentence.

"Sakura. Done?" He suddenly asked her from across the kitchen. His teammates were stunned by Sasuke's sudden change of topic.

Sakura looked quietly at all the eyes on her from across the kitchen. A strange sensation of embarrassment overcame her as the silence got heavy, she nodded in confirmation.

Sasuke walked alongside her in shared silence back to his room. He eyeballed her a few times, as though he was thinking of what to say. Sakura fidgeted with the bags in her hands from the days adventure. Finally once they arrived to his bedroom door he looked down at her, "I'll be back but don't wait up for me" he commented.

She looked at him perplexed, "Working late because of me?", Sakura asked earnestly with a sweet smile.

"I had fun. Get some rest" he responded. Holding out his arm, directing her into the room. She paused at the cold gesture. She looked downtrodden as she walked into the room and turned her head back to say goodbye to him.

His warm gaze locked onto her smile just seconds before the door closed between them.… Sakura paused in silence as she stared at the door.

She had to shake her head to convince herself not to read into Sasuke's strange demeanor. She was obviously caught between two versions of him, the playfully kind and the cold villain.

Sakura placed her bag of grapes and plucked lavender flowers on top of the broken dresser then continued to her long awaited shower with her bag of new undies.

Once in the shower, she contemplated the day repetitively. She knew it would be her last night sleeping next to Sasuke, her plan was already set for escape. As wonderful as things had gotten between the two of them, by the end of tomorrow she would most likely be in his murder list...She had to savor their last memories to the fullest.

Strangely comfortable enough in Sasuke's room to relax, Sakura walked out of the bathroom wearing her new dark red cotton bralette with matching cotton cheekster panties. Struggling to open the top two drawers of the snapped dresser, she went elsewhere looking for some spare clothes to sleep in. After a few minutes of giving up, she finally opened the last drawer, pulling out the same white see-through shirt she had worn initially upon trying on Sasuke's clothes. She threw it on and quickly noticed the red color of her new underwear was vibrant underneath the sheer shirt and it did nothing to hide the outline of her slender figure underneath it. She began to take it off, but something in her decided against it. She slowly put it back on and shrugged with a smirk. Closing the dresser drawer with her foot, she carried the bag of grapes and the lavender flowers over to the desk.

The book about Sealing Techniques was still open to just where she had last left it, she was excited to continue her reading. Seeing as how they were a bunch of secret texts from the Uzumaki Clan, she was not going to let this rare opportunity pass her up. Her competitive edge also didn't want to lose to Sasuke on seals, which he obviously seemed extremely proficient at, given her current situation.

She moved the books to the bed and sprawled out comfortably. She nibbled on the bag of grapes lying next to her, she picked up reading where she had left off.

Hours had passed and the grapes were all eaten, Sakura was fast asleep with her face lying on an open page of the book. She was laid out diagonally across the bed, wrapped in covers resting peacefully.

* * *

It was five in the morning when Sasuke finally made it back to his room. He quietly dragged his feet past the door, turning to ensure the closing door did not wake Sakura. His tired expression was hidden behind the blood and dirt smeared across his face and Akatsuki cloak. He tenderly sat on his bed, his whole body sore from the fight still fresh from his body and the long journey back home. He outran the rest of his teammates from the land of sound...His state of unrest and exhaustion was noticeably overtaking him. As he sat on the bed aching, he rested his head calmly against the sword his hands were holding to lean on. From the corner of his eyes he looked over to see Sakura asleep diagonally on his bed.

He sat there dumbfounded by her arrogance. Did she not expect him to come back home? He ran for hours to make sure he made it back before sunrise...he stared at her innocent face as she slept and felt his irritation melt away. How could he be mad at her? He continued to watch her sleeping face for until he couldn't resist falling asleep himself. The darkness called to him as he fell over, slumping onto the floor into an unconscious slumber his body pleaded for.

Sakura was startled awake by the overpowering cold sensation in her bones. She tried to cuddle into a ball for warmth, searching around her for the missing covers. The sheets were pulled off of her and dragged off the corner of the bed. Sakura grew tense as she tried to scan the room for an intruder, really wishing she was wearing more than a thin shirt at the moment. After a long silence, Sakura decided to crawl to the edge of the bed to restore her covers.

Then there he was, sprawled out on the floor with a sword loosely in hand, covered in sweat, rain, dirt and blood. His arms bent in odd directions as his head rested in a uncomfortable arch. Sakura sighed and took in the sight. He looked like he had too much to drink or something, she chuckled to herself. He was in such a deep slumber that he passed out on the floor! He laid on the floor with the covers pulling underneath him from his fall off the bed.

She could only sigh and shake her head as she stepped off the bed and kneeled next to his body. She placed her hand on his chest to feel his vitals, but only felt his rising chest. Covered in mud and guck, she pulled her hand away from his chest unable to sense anything. A bit startled, she forgot she couldn't use Chakra to sense his vitals. Without chakra she would have to touch his bare chest to get a quick assessment..She hesitated for only a moment as she watched him in a deep sleep. He probably wouldn't even wake if she check him quickly.

Slowly, she opened his Akatsuki cloak, exposing his white shirt underneath. She gingerly slid her hand in between the cloth fold to slowly feel Sasuke's bare chest. She felt his heartbeat was weak, his body was cold, his chest was barely rising though. She paused before lowered her head close to his chest, trying to hear if he was breathing fine. In the moment that her ear gently pressed against Sasuke's chest, she heard him inhale quietly. A few moments passed and not to soon after, Sakura was startled to feel an arm grip hers. She turned her head over to watch Sasuke's strong grip pull her upward towards his face. Frozen in shock, Sakura tried to turn her head to face Sasuke—but It wasn't fast enough, his teeth were already digging deep between her neck and her shoulder. Sakura let out a loud scream, not expecting him to bite her. She tried to push him off her but he pinned her arms down to his chest with a heavy strength that she couldn't fight. Sasuke appeared half asleep, sucking harder on her despite her protests and screams.

"SASUKE! STOP IT" she screamed, and vaguely got a moan in reply from Sasuke before the bedroom door flung open with a loud thud.

In moments Jugo and Suigetsu were in the room. Both were in Akatsuki cloaks, out of breath, covered in mud and wet with fresh.

Although they ran in with vivacious energy to tend to the scream, they froze for a moment, unsure of what to do once they surveyed what was happening before them on the ground. Jugo gave no hesitation to run over to Sakura and lift her up from the waist. Suigetsu considered not helping but had no choice other than to follow Jugo's lead. He ran behind Sasuke's head, trying to pull him off of Sakura.

"SASUKE! WAKE UP!" Suigetsu screamed as he smacked Sasuke's face with a handful of water.

Sasuke's jaw unclenched from Sakura's neck suddenly and she was pulled back thanks to Jugo. Sakura looked at Sasuke's face, blood dripping down the side of his mouth and his eyes even darker with his sharingan activated. He held the appearance of a rapid animal, breathing rapidly as Suigetsu tried to calm him and pull him away from Jugo and Sakura.

Jugo clung to Sakura in a protective stance, he held her close as though she was one of his fragile little animals. Sakura's eyes were wide in shock as she took in the scene- digging her head in Jugo's large chest.

There was a panic in Sasuke's eyes as the surveyed the room, trying to figure out what was happening. Jugo and Suigetsu were both simultaneously trying to talk him down,

"You're not there anymore Sasuke. Snap out of it!" Jugo conveyed with withheld fear, holding a scared Sakura protectively his arms.

"You're in your room. DON'T destroy anything!" Suigetsu reiterated, "especially not me" he added quietly.

Sasuke watched Sakura's panicked eyes as she clung to Jugo. A bit alarmed she was in her underwear, his eyes noticed the blood running down her white sheer shirt from her neck. He tasted the blood in his mouth and quickly realized what had happened. He looked down in shame, realizing what he had done. His eyes shifted back to their normal black color, his breathing slowly began to calm down and Suigetsu finally decided let him go.

Sasuke sat on the floor looking down.

"Sorry...Sakura, I don't know what got over me. I thought you were someone else, I thought we were still in the middle of a fight" Sasuke said through panting breaths.

Everyone stood in silence, analyzing his words. Jugo looked down at Sakura, Suigetsu's eyes also scanned the fact that she was in dark red underwear and a sheer shirt. Her eyes caught him eyeballing her as a blush crossed his face.

Leaning over to into Sasuke's ear, Suigetsu whispered "...did we...uh,..interrupt something we weren't supposed to?"

Sasuke was confused by the stupid question, he didn't even dignify it with a response. He slowly stood up and walked over to Sakura, the bite mark he placed on her neck was definitely bruised and bleeding. Everyone tensed up as he approached Jugo and Sakura. Sasuke held out his hand to brush the hair away that was covering the wound, but Sakura flinched away from him. Jugo tightened his grip around her at the moment she flinched.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt, I was just startled is all" Sakura said as she shrugged away from Sasuke.

Sasuke approached her closer and Jugo tensed up again, unsure if it was safe or not, he was ready to fight Sasuke. Suigetsu looked at Jugo with alarm, surprised by Jugo's offensive reaction towards Sasuke. Jugo could go berserk at any moment when he gets protective over his animals. Sasuke noted Jugo's response, he gave him a quick glare, warning him not to test his patience.

Sasuke then calmly continued to tenderly inspect Sakura's neck. Suigetsu was frightened by the heightened tension between the two teammates. He quickly made eye contact with Jugo and pointed to the door with panic. Jugo understood but hesitated, watching Sasuke closely as he released his hold on Sakura.

"Please be careful" Jugo said to Sakura as he joined the nervous Suigetsu to the door. They both turned back slowly at the doorway to see Sasuke with his arm on her shoulder examining the bite mark. He held her chin up with the other hand then slid the white shirt off her shoulder gently. Sakura was tense. She wasn't sure what came over him but it shook her.

He took a moment to look at the wound but then his eyes followed downward towards her breasts, the bare curves of her waist, the long V shaped muscle outline on her lower abs that lead his eyes straight to her small panties. He inhaled deeply, trying to call the blood internally escaping him back into his cheeks. He looked back at how tiny her neck was in comparison to his hands. In this long moment of contemplation, Suigetsu and Jugo looked at each other in worry. They said goodnight in a hurry before closing the door behind them.

"That is the last time we go in there when we hear screams, Jugo" Suigetsu complained once they were safely on the other side of the door.

"I don't think it's safe to leave her in there" Jugo mentioned before adding, "We can't overpower him so easily, I think if Sasuke didn't snap out of it she could've been killed"

"Are you kidding me?" Suigetsu interrupted. "You know what happens when you take a toy from a kid? Let alone a homicidal teenager with freakish strength and raging hormones. That's a suicide mission Jugo" he explained as they both started walking towards their own rooms just down the hall.

"If he kills her then he kills her" Suigetsu explained, "we don't speak about it and we definitely don't intervene!"

Suigetsu analyzed Jugo's worried face and shock overcame him.

"Jugo, don't tell me that girl has got you too?" Suigetsu shouted out in alarm.

Jugo looked concerned at Suigetsu's bewildered words.

"She is so kind and soft...like a rabbit" Jugo quietly said as he gazed down at his hands.

"You've never held a naked girl before, huh Jugo?" Suigetsu asked with a sly look on his face. He jabbed Jugo's arm with his elbow.

Jugo shook his head.

"Alright! Get it out of your head, that's Sasuke's toy! You can't save her from him, you could've got killed for that little stunt in the room back there. You're playing with fire Jugo, not just any fire- Amaterasu kind of fire!" Suigetsu scolded him sternly.

"Besides, our lives have gotten a lot easier since she came around, Sasuke's in a much better mood all they time. Don't screw that up for us" Suigetsu added.

Jugo smiled at the reminder, "...he is pretty happy. I don't think he even realizes it".

They both stopped in front of their doors across the hall from each other.

"I'm going to pretend like this entire event didn't happen Jugo. I think you should do that same. Find some time alone to get it out of your system and forget about it" Suigetsu told him before entering into his room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

Sakura was busy in the bathroom scrubbing the white blood stained shirt in the faucet with hot water. Sasuke stood behind her at the doorway, watching her closely from behind as she vigorously scrubbed the shirt.

"Stop it already. I told you that you don't have to do that" Sasuke told her in a tired voice. His head heavy as he rested it on the doorway frame.

"Just a second more,I can get it out! I'm sorry for ruining your shirt" Sakura pleaded as she scrubbed.

Sasuke scoffed.

There was silence. Sakura jumped as Sasuke's grey shirt landed on the faucet suddenly. Confused, she stopped scrubbing and raised her head. She turned over to Sasuke, who had his dirty Asatsuki cloak lying the floor next to him as he stripped his pants past his knees. Sakura's mouth shot open, her expression held back none of her bewilderment.

"Wha..what..are you doing?" Sakura asked staring at him from the faucet as he stood before her in his form fitting boxers. He grabbed his cloak and his pants from the floor and threw it to the faucet as well.

"THOSE are ruined. It's covered in blood, dirt, rain and sweat." He said with a smirk while he crossed his arms at the doorway in his black briefs, "That white shirt is the least of my problems. If you want to save some clothes, you could start there instead".

Sasuke soaked in all of Sakura's complete shock as she eyed him up and down, it was hard to hold back his own smile despite how tired he was. He crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Y-you should put some clothes on" Sakura muttered as she gazed at the scratches and scars across Sasuke's muscular and thrashed body.

"I should say the same to you. Why are you in your underwear?"

"W-w-why are you!" Sakura was baffled by the question.

"This is my room" Sasuke quickly replied with a matter of fact tone.

Sakura stumbled in her retort. She had nothing to return to his comment.

Sasuke smiled at her silence and rubbed his face in a tired manner.

"I'm going to sleep then. Keep scrubbing if you want, but it you're not going to save it" Sasuke said as he stopped leaning on the doorframe and turned to the bed.

"Wait wait wait" Sakura said, expanding her palm outward to stop him.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of going to sleep like that" Sakura added in disbelief.

Sasuke looked at her in confusion, "You..don't like the briefs?", he asked with shock. He put his hands on them, making the motion as though he was going to take them off.

"NO" Sakura exclaimed, the words jumped out her mouth so fast she was also startled by the volume of her voice. Sasuke chuckled.

"I mean, you can't sleep on the clean sheets when you're dirty" Sakura argued. She quickly turned to the bath and opened up the hot water faucet.

"It's my sheets" Sasuke complained. Sakura ignored him and threw loads of liquid soap into the running water collecting in the bath. She looked back over to Sasuke as he watched her in silence and slight annoyance. She threw in more soap after looking at all the dirt he was covered in.

"Ew. No. You're not sleeping next to me looking and smelling like roadkill" Sakura complained as she watched the bath fill up with bubbles and hot water.

"You can sleep on the floor then, princess. I'm too tired to shower" Sasuke said peering into the bathroom. He was admiring the view of Sakura in her underwear squatting down at the side of the bath, throwing in soap and feeling the water. An evil thought crossed his mind in that moment. He covered his face with his hands, hiding his tired dark grin. He only hesitated for a moment before deciding to creep up behind her silently.

Sakura noticed his long silence and peeked her head over her shoulder inquisitively. It took no effort for him to give her a quick push into the hot soapy water in front of her. Unsure of what exactly just happened, Sakura was completely submerged in the bath water. She collected herself and rose her head slowly out of the bath water covered in bubbles. The glare she gave Sasuke was deadly, but the bubbles really made it hard for Sasuke to take her stare so seriously.

Sasuke had his arms crossed, he laughed to himself as he watched her tiny anger. It was adorable.

She watched his childish delight, and although it was hard to be upset with him she did her best to stay in character, an angry frown drawn across her face. She raised her arms up offensively at him, threatening to pounce and jumped out of the water, covered in bubbles.

Sasuke appreciated her wet figure until he noticed her pouncing stance. He quickly turned to make a sprints for the bathroom door, but Sakura was even quicker to jump out the bath and grabbed his arm. Sasuke turned to release her grip from his arm, but Sakura pressed a handful of bubbles onto his face. Quickly, she twisted his arm and maneuvered it over her shoulder, tossing his weight over her and launching him into the bath. In that moment in the air, Sasuke gripped the only thing he could grab blindly- Sakura's hair.

Hitting the bathroom wall and submerging into the hot soapy bath water, Sasuke popped his head out to catch some air.

Sakura had her head dunked into the bath water along with half her body. Sasuke semi successfully pulled her in with him when she tossed him in the bath. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled the rest of her in the bath water as she struggled to get up for air.

Sasuke laughed out in delight as Sakura's head menacingly appeared out of the bubbles.

He knew he made a bad decision and tried to dash out of the water before her miniature furry was unleashed. In the split second that Sasuke charged out of the bath tub, he was pulled back in from his waist into the water, creating a large splash.

Sakura pinned him in the water, successfully squeezing his lower chest between her legs. Sasuke poped his head out of the water and tried to push her off him, Sakura pressed her weight on his shoulder- submerging his head. She grabbed his wrists and pressed it on the wall of the bath.

With her free hand, Sakura grabbed the loofah and pointed it at Sasuke's glaring face, barely able to surface above the water.

"Keep fighting me and I'm going to put this somewhere you won't want it" she threatened him. Sasuke sunk his mouth underneath the bubbly water, looking up at her.

"You're tired, you're already wet, you're tired, just give up" she tried to negotiate. She let go of his wrist and loosened her legs grip on sides of his chest. Sakura reached over him to grab the shampoo bottle, Sasuke popped his head out of the water to watch what she was doing. He did not ignore the view of Sakura's wet body stretched out over his. Before he could organize a thought, Sakura poured a gallop of shampoo on Sasuke's exposed hair. He was about to protest but he was silenced by the feeling of Sakura's hand running the shampoo through his wet hair. His closed eyes rolled over in acceptance of the the warm feeling overtaking him. This was the first time he had ever received a head massage by a wet girl pinning him down in hot water. He couldn't deny he was enjoying it. Sakura felt his body start relaxing and his head lean back in enjoyment. He rested his arms comfortably on Sakura's thighs as she straddled his chest during the massage. He slid up to rest his head on the end of the tub and placed Sakura's hands back on the top of his head.

Sakura froze to notice she was sitting over his briefs, she looked up at Sasuke's face. His eyes were closed, his wet hair was slick back, face relaxed and he looked like he was in heaven. She assured herself that this was perfectly innocent, despite the unusual position. Sasuke seemed tired and didn't seem to mind, she thought to herself with her hands on his head.

Sasuke opened one eye inquisitively, wondering why she stopped the head massage. He cleared his throat.

Sakura caught the demanding look on his eye and resumed her massage. A smile overtook his face as she resumed lathering the shampoo on his scalp. She ran her hands through the back of his neck upward towards the back of his ears. She caught his mouth open and his eyes roll upward behind his closed eyelids.

"You spoiled brat" Sakura whispered to him.

Sasuke chuckled with his eyes closed.

"You could've just said that I was going to get bathed and I would've made this a lot easier for you" he said to her, keeping his eyes closed.

"I wasn't ever planning on bathing you" she grumbled.

"Less talking. More touching" Sasuke commanded her.

"Don't tell me what to do" Sakura replied as she grabbed a water cup to pour water over his head, rinsing the shampoo from him.

Sasuke shook his head in shock from the rinse. He gasped for air.

"Warn me next time, I almost swallowed the water" he told her.

"No" she replied before pouring a large cup full of water over his face and head again. He was enjoying this far too much.

Sasuke gathered the water that entered his mouth and squirted it out at Sakura's face.

She leaned back and held her hands up, dropping the water cup, trying to block the water squirt. He sat up, grabbing the water cup and filling it up with water. He slid his forearm behind Sakura's back and pulled her closer to him, pressing her to his chest. She locked eyes with him in disbelief, he bit his lip with a smile before pouring the entire container of water over Sakura like she had done to him. She tried to escape this strange type of waterboarding. She pushed his chest away from her and tried to lift up out of his grip with her legs, straining to release herself. She could hear him enjoying her struggle, once the water ran out she opened her eyes to see his face in front of hers, genuinely smiling.

She tried to snatch the empty container from his hand but he stretched his arm behind himself, past her reach. She leaned her weight on his chest trying to reach for the cup. She tried to sit up from his lap to reach further for the water cup but was forcibly being pinned down by him. Sakura began laughing, trying to wiggle out of grip as she reached for the water cup. Sasuke reacted with a sharp exhale. She kept squirming and trying to escape his grasp. He adjusted his placed his hand, wrapped around her back pinning her down, higher on her waist just under her breast to get a better grip. Sakura flinched and pressed her elbow between his shoulder and neck. Sasuke painfully groaned and leaned forward to adjust himself. His face was just next to her neck and he suddenly let go of her and stopped moving. He put the cup down.

"..are you okay?" She asked with a pause.

Sasuke shook his head with a no as he closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing.

Another deep exhale with his eyes closed.

"Can we just go back to shampooing my hair?" Sasuke pleaded quietly, unwilling to move.

Sakura was a bit startled by his sudden change in demeanor, she wasn't sure how to respond. He seemed like he was in pain or something.

"Uh.. sure" Sakura slowly replied, confused. The energy died down and Sakura watched Sasuke focusing on his breathing with his eyes closed, a few centimeters from her face. His wet hair slicked back exposed the gorgeous facial features he normally hides behind his hair. His skin was so fair, he cheekbones pronounced and a perfect nose to match. She was waiting for him to unwrap his arm around her waist so she wasn't so tight against his chest but he didn't move at all.

"I don't think I can shampoo your hair like this" Sakura told him gently with a sweet voice in the silence of the bathroom. Sasuke inhaled again deeply.

"Why not?" He asked innocently.

"I think I'm sitting on the shampoo bottle" Sakura whispered to him, trying not to break whatever concentration he was focusing on.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. His eyes opened to meet Sakura's face in front of his.

Sakura met his big black eyes as it gazed at all the parts of her face, searching for words.

"Okay. Nevermind. Get out. Right now" Sasuke ushered her.

"Wha" Sakura began to ask, she was cut short by a demanding Sasuke.

"OUT. Out now" he said as he lifted her off of his lap.

Sakura stood up and stepped out of the bath quietly. Sasuke took in every detail of Sakura dripping wet in her underwear trying to leave the bath. He ran his hands through his hair in distress as he closed his eyes. He waited a moment before opening his eyes again, he turned to look at Sakura who was now bent over toweling the water off her legs innocently.

"Do that outside!" Sasuke yelled at her.

Sakura wrapped the towel around her head and began walking out of the bathroom with irritation written all over her face.

"Stop being such a demanding prick Sasuke!" She yelled out at him.

"Lock the door when you leave" Sasuke told her.

Sakura looked back at him before leaving him alone in the bathroom and gave him the middle finger. She noted the shampoo bottle out had been flung out the bathtub earlier and took a mental note as it laid on the tile floor. Her eyebrows rose in disbelief just before closing the door.

* * *

From the writer: Hope this chapter was worth the wait ;)

Sorry for the two month delay in updating the story. I have been very busy, but now am able to focus again.

As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed something about the story or if you wish something was different, I really look forward to them.

Thanks


	26. Chapter 26

This is for Sasuke Restuden, thanks for lighting my soul back on fire

* * *

After a tiring day and a long needed release before bedtime, Sasuke's sleep couldn't get much deeper. He had only been asleep for three hours but he was deep into a trance like state of sleep. It took a turning Sakura three or four punches and kicks to get him to barely acknowledge that she was restlessly moving around.

He opened one of his eyes slowly to look over at Sakura. It was dark in the room but still light enough to see the mess she was in; hair awry, sleeping tangled in the covers across the bed. It was quite the sight to see, sideways with limbs sprawled out across the edge of the bed. Her face winced and frowned in her sleep as she flicked her limbs about from time to time. She must be having a bad dream, Sasuke snickered to himself.

He shook his head, he could fall back asleep at any moment. It wasn't his problem but he couldn't rightfully do so with Sakura beating on him like a drum. She would keep waking him at this rate.

A moment of compassion overtook him as he considered how strange it must be to be in her situation. He closed his eyes and tried to give time for the emotion to leave him. He heard her shuffling an sighed in feigned annoyance. His hesitation ended surprisingly fast before committing to let her rest on his shoulder, a sure ticket to get her to sleep soundly. For his own selfish reasons of course! He needed to sleep, he convinced himself internally. This didn't mean he cared. Happy with his own justifications, Sasuke scooted closer to her and ran his hand underneath her neck. He pulled her away from the edge of the bed and into his arms. Sakura opened her eyes to the sensation, alarmed.

"S-sasuke?" Sakura whispered in confusion at the darkness around her, adjusting her eyes.

"You're either having a bad dream or you're trying to kill me" Sasuke joked with her in a husky whisper. He reached his other arm to her waist and continued pulling her close.

His bare chest was not far from her face as he laid on his side facing her. Her neck laid on Sasuke's arm and there was a short distance between the two of them.

She looked up at his face, half asleep and eyes barely open. A flush ran through her face and it spread throughout her body. She looked down at his other arm, lifting up the covers between them to invite her to get even closer to him. At this moment she was in shock. She hesitated only to admire how far she had come since she first got taken prisoner by Sasuke.

She cautiously scooted her body up against his and snuggled her face in his chest. Sasuke smirked, then coiled his arms around her. He caressed her back lightly in a soothing manner.

"Were you having a bad dream?" Sasuke whispered to her with his eyes closed as Sakura kept her face buried into his chest.

"I guess I was trying to kill you" Sakura replied in a muffled manner.

"Looking at the situation, you're terribly failing at it" he joked calmly at her before giving a chuckle.

Sakura joined in with his light laugh. They shared a moment of restful silence and Sakura could feel sleep starting to overtake her. With each caress on her back, the nerves along her spine sent ripples of euphoria throughout her body.

They shared a few more moments in silence as he continued to gently stroke her back, each stroke softer than the one before it until there was nothing. The great peace felt in the room was sedating. After much resistance, sleep overtook Sasuke. He rolled on his back releasing Sakura into the abyss between his arm and his chest. Sakura invited herself up on his shoulder with her head nuzzling at the nape of his neck. Sakura's arm rested comfortably on his chest and her leg intertwined between his. She pulled up the sheets to cover both of them as she snuggled her face deeper into his neck with a grin. Sasuke let out a chuckle as Sakura's cold nose tickled his neck and brought him back into consciousness.

"This is a secret that doesn't ever leave this room" Sasuke sternly said to her without opening his eyes. He wrapped his arm comfortably around her waist under the covers. His cold hand rested on the exposed skin along Sakura's waist. He felt Sakura jolt a little at the cold touch. A strange sensation of delight came over Sasuke at Sakura's response to his touch. He decided to slip his hand under her shirt, close to her belly button. Sakura's face scrunched, she decided to nodd up and down in response to his sentence, tickling his neck again with her nose in the process.

Sasuke tried resisting his response to being tickled, before he couldn't hold it anymore- his hand jolted up grip her hair, stopping her from tormenting him further.

"Sasukeee" she groaned. She lifted her arm resting on Sasuke's chest to unlock his hand from her hair. Sasuke chuckled as she struggled to release his grip with one hand. He pinned her resisting arm down into his chest tightly. His eyes opened as he looked down at her annoyed face in such a tempting predicament. He enjoyed the sound of her whining as she squirmed to release his tight grip on her. Enjoying her wriggle against his body, Sasuke had no plans on letting her escape.

Sakura push away from him using her leg, trying to get him to release her hair. The elbow of the arm gripping her hair still pressed into her back, preventing her from pulling away from him. She groaned and began writhering back and forth. Sasuke could only grin contently, it was easy annoying her.

Seeing how all her writhing was getting her nowhere she decided to use a different tactic. She stopped struggling and noticed her face was still pressed to his neck. An eye for an eye, she thought to herself. She gathered up her courage and took a strong bite into his neck.

Sasuke's reaction was immediate, almost like a flinch. He rapidly let go of her hair and pushed her away from him. He sat up on his elbows to face her with a wild disbelief in his eyes.

From the corner of her eye, before being pushed off she caught a glimpse of a small devilish smile that quickly left his lips. She hadn't seen Sasuke smile like that ever. He glared at her, rubbing his neck to see if it was bleeding.

She leaned back further away from him, smiling as she raised an eyebrow at him.

He studied her arrogant grin from across the bed. Among the darkened room he had enough light to witness the spectacle of emotions in her eyes. Was he being seduced? In that moment it happened again, the magic of an entire conversation held between silent lips and locked eyes.

Their eyes spoke the following without words, just through sheer connection.

'Did I hit a soft spot?' Sakura explored his face with a knowing victory in her eyes.

'I won't play this game with you if you're going to do that' he glared back at her.

The feigning of blindness to their attraction to one another had gone on for far too long. The truth of their sexual tension was hidden behind a curtain all this time, both knowing but none willing to acknowledge it. Pulling at the curtain little by little from time to time, trying to hint its existence to the other person shyly. It was all a lovely dance Sakura enjoyed playing with him, at some point she wanted the curtain open and their feelings to be revealed. Sasuke did not trust her to let her pull on the curtain, he wanted it done on his own terms once he sifted through his emotions logically. More importantly, when the situation suited him. It was selfish, just like a little boy who wanted a toy but only on his own terms. He refused to have his buttons pushed by her, it showed his weakness. He did not want to expose her advantage over him.

'That's not fair' Sakura scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

'Don't test my limits' he expressed with a firm exhale.

'So you won't admit that this isn't normal behavior?' Sakura questioned him with disbelief as she raised both eyebrows at him.

He shook his head at her in disagreement.

"Fine then. I'm not playing this stupid game then" Sakura groaned as she turned away from him, returning to the edge of the bed- far away from Sasuke.

Sasuke could only fold his arms in protest. He gave her a few moments to retract her anger and play along with their game of feigning innocent indifference to what was happening. A few more moments…

She still refused to turn back around and face him.

Sasuke pouted as he turned to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling.

Another minutes passed and Sasuke still had his blood pulsing hard, his irritation with the situation couldn't allow him to fall back asleep.

He turned his head over to Sakura again only to find the back of her head.

He tried to ignore her and go back to sleep, but the smell of her hair lingered and the pain in his neck raced through his body, overwhelming his thoughts.

A few more minutes passed.

It felt like an eternity caught in an internal debate. He knew it wouldn't end, he wouldn't rest unless he gave him.

Sasuke finally let out a 'tch' in anger.

He reached out and let the tips of his fingers tenderly stroke her spine up and down. "Hey... Are you asleep?" He whispered to her.

Sakura turned her head over her shoulder to give Sasuke a look of annoyance.

He hadn't seen such a look on her before, honestly, it was overpoweringly adorable, he thought to himself. His anger dissipated into nothingness, a memory long forgotten.

"You see," he continued whispering to her stern look from across an arm span away.

"I keep trying to kill you in my dreams and I'm not doing a very good job" he joked at her with a kind smile, referencing their conversation beforehand.

Sakura tried to stay mad at him and hold back her grin but her rising cheeks gave her away.

Sasuke took that as a win. He smiled as he grabbed her waist and pulled her close against him.

She didn't protest as he slid his arm under her neck and wrapped his other arm around her waist, effectively spooning her from behind as he dipped his face into the scent of her hair.

"Your secret is safe with me" Sakura gave in.

"About what?" Sasuke whispered in her ear, his breath jolting every nerve in her body with its caress on her ear.

To be painfully honest, Sasuke enjoyed flirting with her. Each one of her reactions drove him wild. Each time he could touch her it secretly brought him great happiness.

He knew what he was doing. Addressing it, acknowledging the mutual existence of their feelings but denying it. It keeps her playing the same game with him. It was a game he enjoyed far too much. It gave him some kind of power over her that made her heart race and her cheeks brightened from ear to ear. Sakura wanted to win at this game. She knew an easy ticket was to make good use of their current spooning position. Just a simple arch of her back would press her hips into his waist. The same quarrel from earlier would repeat itself all over again if she did it.

Enjoying the current situation far too much, she decided against it.

For now, she would just indulge in this feeling he was giving her.

She decided to be playful instead.

"About what a shitty assassin in you are" Sakura continued the conversation. They both chuckled. He wasn't about to argue with that logic.

"Don't worry, I'll kill you later in real life to restore my dignity" he spoke with a playful bluff in his words.

"You'll need your sleep then, Sasuke. You've got a whole lot of dignity to restore" she replied back with a smile as she tenderly stroked his forearm resting over her waist. It gave him goosebumps throughout his body that even rose the hairs on the back of his neck. The aroma of her hair and the caress of her hands melted him in ways he never thought possible. He exhaled years of tension and began fading into the bliss of the situation.

"Good night" Sakura whispered as she felt him starting to drift off into sleep.

"Sleep" he replied softly.


	27. Chapter 27

This one is for bruna-alves-ba119

Abrigato

* * *

As Sakura awoke from her sleep in a semi-conscious state, she recalled the strangest dream last night... A vivid memory sprung through her head, followed by a small feeling of hope inside her. Maybe it was true? No, impossible. It had to be a dream. She sat up on the bed, lifting the covers off her lap before slowly turning to witness Sasuke's figure lying far away from her at the other end of the bed. She had woken up a few times with her arms wrapped around him in the past. It wouldn't be the craziest thing to assume that they were both cuddling, but in her dream Sasuke had started it. Sasuke was pulling her close and he was the one who locked her into his arms...must have been a dream. He didn't do things like that.

She shook her head and rubbed it a little before standing up. It was strange for her to get so wrapped up in a dream, uncertain if it was real or not. She rose to the bathroom, rubbing her neck in embarrassment as she recalled the dream in detail. Sasuke turned to cover himself from the bathroom light striking his face as she entered the bathroom. Sakura did hear him moan but paid him no attention as she walked over to the faucet. She turned the faucet and splashed water on her face.

She tried to focus on the intensity of the icy cold water while her mind raced around. She lifted her arm over her head to blindly grab the toothbrush from the shelf next to the faucet mirror and inattentively knocked over the glass cup holding both the toothbrushes. Sakura gasped when she felt it slip over the edge.

She quickly turned to reach out to it before it shattered, but it was in the blink of an eye that Sasuke was already standing before her holding the glass with the two spinning toothbrushes in it.

She jerked back instinctively before catching her breath. Sasuke reached his arm out and gripped her arm, thinking she was going to fall back from her jerk.

"Whoa. Watch out" he said calmly to her.

She froze with a concerned look in her eyes as they shared a glance. In that moment, the strange sense of confusion and distrust swept over Sakura. She was intimidated by Sasuke's real speed. Almost as if he had been hiding this from her. In the blink of an eye he was at her side. She really didn't have a fair shot against him hand to hand. If she really considered it, at that speed Sasuke could have caught her the moment she ran out that door during her first escape attempt. Their chase must have seemed like a game to him. How strong was this guy now? She hadn't seen him in battle for so long. How much was he toying with her?

She looked down at her forearms, wrapped in his black seals. She had been seeing them, but she'd forgotten about them, like a pet unaware of its own collar. Was she really in more danger than she thought?

Sasuke watched her look down at her arms then he slowly let his grip go from her.

"Thanks" she responded kindly with a fake smile after a long pause. He handed her a toothbrush before placing the cup back on the shelf. Sakura casually began brushing her teeth over the faucet. Sasuke quietly followed behind her quietly as he leaned against the wall. They were brushing their teeth together. This was a strange new behavior from him; it forced Sakura to grow more suspicious of him. Was he up to something?

Sakura looked up to watch Sasuke from the reflection in the mirror as they both brushed their teeth in silence. She was quite distracted by a lovely vision of Sasuke standing just behind her in the mirror. Shirtless, spikey hair a mess, drowsy face. Most importantly, he was ever so close to her in such a casually relaxed manner. He was merely inches away from her due to the small size of the bathroom. She could see in detail his long neck, muscular shoulders, the color of his skin in contrast to his hair and his black piercing eyes just wandering...wandering...at her.

Her cheeks filled up with warmth, resisting her smile as she watched Sasuke brushing his teeth and carefully passing his eyes through the back of her figure. Her tight black shorts highlighted her muscular form from behind as she leaned her torso over the faucet. His old cropped Uchiha shirt exposed the nape on her lower back quite nicely. The cut collar of the shirt hung off of her, exposing the back of her small muscular shoulders and back. Her pink hair was curved and fell in a messy manner around her shoulders, highlighting her soft skin color.

Sakura knew if it were anyone else looking her up and down, she would have felt repulsed by the intrusion. Her embarrassment was too overpowering to allow him to continue. She tried to think of anything to talk about to get them both to focus on something else.

"So you think you'll be far away today or should I make the roasted boar tonight?" Sakura asked with her mouth full of toothpaste.

"Oh. I think so…"Sasuke replied.

"Really?" Sakura's voice lit up turning her head to watch his reaction, "promise?"

Sasuke was caught aback by her smiling face next to her voluptuous figure in front of him. He tried to find the right words, but stood there in the moment just grinning at her, "promise".

Sakura bit her lower lip with a smile, "oh you are going to remember this day!"

Sasuke smiled as she turned back around to dry her face with a small towel.

A loud knock intruded on the moment.

They both turned to face the noise which was coming from the front door of the bedroom. The urgency in the knock rose and the intensity of it was hard to ignore.

Sasuke was the first to turn to answer the door. Sakura followed behind him curious as to what the fuss was about.

Sasuke walked over to the door and opened it slowly, with annoyance. Jugo and Suigetsu were quick to walk into the room without a second thought. Sakura, noticing she was in her underwear, quickly walked back into the bathroom to cover herself. It didn't stop Suigetsu or Jugo from appreciating a quick glance before she turned the corner.

They both ignored it, pressed with a more urgent matter.

"Sasuke, we got an urgent message from Pain just a moment ago" Suigetsu urged.

Sasuke was immediately attentive, snapping back to his boss mode.

"What happened" Sasuke asked.

"Landus escaped." Jugo reported with a matter of fact tone.

"We just defeated Landus yesterday. I gave him to Pain myself before I returned home" Sasuke growled, "What happened".

"Well, after your battle he discovered you have been impersonating Shichiro, the crime lord, and that you're working for Akatsuki. In all reality, maybe he let you win for that information alone." Suigetsu explained.

"TCH. Pain is incompetent. This isn't my fight anymore. I did them their favor" Sasuke retorted, turning to find his sword and his cloak.

"According to Konan he was last sensed heading towards our hideout through the land of rain. We don't know how close he is but he definitely knows where we are" Suigetsu added.

"If he has worked with Itachi in the past then he definitely knows this hideout." Sasuke added as he dressed himself with his white shirt, finally wrapping his akatsuki cloak over himself.

"Where's Karen?" Sasuke snarled.

"She's outside trying to see if she senses anyone coming" Jugo replied.

"Perfect. Let's go find him first before he gets here" Sasuke commanded.

"Sui, come with me and Karen. Jugo, stay here and guard the base. Have my hawk on standby in case Landus slips past us and gets here first" he added while opening the door and waiting for Suigetsu to join him.

Jugo was not pleased with this strategy and only gave a quiet grunt of disagreement. Sasuke caught the disapproval in his voice. He stopped at the door and addressed Jugo,

"You are the only one who could hold him down long enough to give us time to get back and save you" Sasuke tried to explain so that Jugo wouldn't get sour with him.

"Are you sure I'm not just babysitting?" Jugo said with a dry tone as he pointed to the bathroom where Sakura was hiding.

Sasuke's thoughts froze. "Don't be stupid, she can take care of herself" Sasuke shamefully said as he stormed out the door.

"Remember how the princess likes her tea" Suigetsu turned to joke at Jugo before hopping out of the room with Sasuke.

Jugo growled at Suigetsu before following behind the two out of the door, leaving it open.

* * *

It had been a few moments that Sakura was standing against the bathroom door after they left. She turned her head to the room to notice the door wide open. She couldn't help but feel that Sasuke did not place a barrier before he left. This was her chance to snoop around.

She quickly put her shoes on and walked to the door frame. She timidly stuck her hand out of the door frame. She was met with no resistance, the seal was indeed not set to the room.

What if there were others in this hideout? Should she try to be incognito? She opened up one of the broken drawers on the smashed dresser. She saw a smaller version of Sasuke's akatsuki cloak when she last rummaged through the drawers.

She found and opened it up to see it was tattered and blood stained. Shrugging, she wrapped it over her shoulders and looked down at herself. Two weeks ago she would have never thought she would be wearing and Akatsuki cloak in Sasuke's bedroom.

The snap of an intrusive thought jolted her. An image of her waiting on his bed in just the open Akatsuki cloak. Her hands quickly sprung up to hide her blush from the thought. She shook her head to get the thought out of her mind. She had to focus on the mission, she can't keep playing this game with him. He was toying with her, she couldn't keep letting her guard down with him.

After a quick pep talk, she decided the cloak was just enough of the right size for her. She grabbed a small rope to tie her hair up. The pink hair would give her away, she scanned around the room for something to cover her hair with. On top of the bookcase was a conical farmers hat made of bamboo. She ran over and with a jump knocked it down. She dusted off the hat and inspected the white cloth around the sides of it, with a little charm on the right hand corner of the front. She had seen this somewhere before.

Focus. The mission.

Sakura dropped the thought and put it on her head, it covered her face as well as her hair very nicely. Pleased with her Akatsuki outfit, she set out to find Sageki.

In a hurried walking pace she left the room. It was hard to remember the way to the prisoner's quarters where she last felt the presence of Sageki. She had been chased by Sasuke into different corners of this lair and it all looked the same to her. She looked down the long narrow corridors—no one in sight. She passed the kitchen area...The prisoner's cells weren't far from here.

She slid past the open doors of the kitchen—clear. She noticed a larger door at the end of a far corner, where many hallways merged. She scurried to it.

Sakura sighed with relief once she opened the large door with ease, there was no lock on it. Once she opened the door, the noises of chains and groans could be heard. She felt the lingering sensation of chakra in the air. Looking down the corridor, there were multiple smaller doors with little windowed vents on the front of them.

Sakura looked around and closed the door behind her.

She tiptoed to the first small door and peeked in.

There was blood on the walls of a small dingy rock closet. It was hard to see, the only light shining came from the hallway light shining through the door vents. The smell of blood was overwhelming as she came close to it. She stepped back in shock, tripping over her own footing and falling onto her rear. The noise of her fall echoed in the hall, followed by a calamity of chain noises.

Sakura's breathing grew rapid and shallow as she looked around the hall towards all the loud noises. Adrenaline raced through her as the shock overtook her.

This is...Sasuke's doing?

She scrambled to her feet and looked into the next cell where she could hear clanking. As she got closer to it, she could feel a small hint of a chakra signal.

Preceding with caution, she snuck up to the door and slowly peered in through the door vent.

To her shock, with the little light shining through the small vent, she was able to see a frail man chained up to shackle on the ceiling. His hair was long, his beard was scruffy and he was dirty beyond belief. His eyes met hers with fear.

She paused and looked out to the other doors down the hallway.

She popped her head to the next door, another prisoner- a burly man with his back to the vent.

She sighed and continued down to the next door.

A small framed boy with long black hair. His head hung down, his hair covered his face as his arms were shackled up to the ceiling. Sakura froze.

This was it. This was his chakra.

Her breathing stopped.

Sakura shouted out in disbelief.

"SAGEKI!"

She froze to see his reaction.

The prisoner didn't move.

He lethargically lifted his head upward to look up at the vent.

Those sapphire blue eyes pierced into her soul.

It was him.

He was shirtless, with dirt and dried blood covering him. His face was slender and his bright eyes were now sunken and void of life. His hair was unkempt and knotted, a small beard forming around his face.

She couldn't speak. She just watched his shattered body as he looked up at her from the dim lighting of the hallway. Tears filled her eyes as she saw his eyes recognize hers.

"...is..is this a dream?" He said with a dry and raspy voice.

"Am I dead yet?" He asked with hope in his words.

Sakura banged on the door, trying to rip it off the wall. She couldn't open it. She kept shaking on the lock, and trying to kick the door open. She was frantic, her vision was blurry and she couldn't stop crying.

"SAGEKI" was all she could scream out as she attacked the door. The hat fell to the floor as she continued fighting with it. The pounding of the door was loud enough to echo through the halls.

"Sakura" he sighed, "get out of here".

She could hear the tears in his voice. She stopped and looked through the vent again.

"I'm going to get you out of here" she told him in between sobs.

"You. You need to go. Before they find you…" Sageki reassured her with shaky words.

Sakura cried out as she watched Sageki's starved figure through the vent.

"I'm so sorry" she said with tears in her eyes, "this is all because of me. This is my fault".

"None of this is your-" Sageki began to say before he stopped suddenly.

"RUN" he screamed out.

Sakura looked behind her to see Jugo standing there.

She was caught. Her big watery eyes looked up at Jugo like a puppy who knew he did wrong. Jugo stood sternly in front of her with his big brass arms crossed.

"Run Sakura. Just run" Sageki continued to yell out.

Sakura stood there with tears in her eyes, defeated.

"He...he's my friend. Wouldn't you do it for your friend?" Sakura confessed to Jugo as she looked down at the ground with shame. She rubbed her arm through the tattered akatsuki cloak and watched the hat as it laid on the floor.

Jugo didn't say a word, he just watched her.

Sakura bent over and picked up the hat, gripping it to her chest. Not making eye contact with Jugo.

Jugo took a look at her largely bruised neck when she bent over. He remembered the abuse Sasuke inflicted on her. In his eyes, Sakura was just like a caged bunny, scared and harmless. He was conflicted, if he told Sasuke of her escape it would make him look bad. He didn't want her to be scolded by Sasuke either, unsure of how brutally he would act towards her. He had seen Sasuke's dark and unforgiving side and he never wanted to be in its wrath. Sasuke's wild bloodlust side was inhumane even for Jugo.

Then he thought about the smile on Sasuke's face these past couple of days. He was far more lenient and kinder than he had been in a long time. He enjoyed that side of Sasuke much better than his older self and didn't want to see his friend lose his smile.

Jugo looked down and grabbed Sakura's arm.

"We won't tell Sasuke about this" Jugo sighed with regret in his voice.

"Don't ever do this again" he threatened her before pulling her away from the cell door.

She looked back at Sageki's eyes as she was dragged away by Jugo. She saw the hopelessness and fear in his eyes.

"Don't lose hope" she silently mouthed to Sageki before losing sight of him.

* * *

It had to have been more than an hour that Sakura sat in the shower. The thoughts of betrayal and anger consumed her. Sageki's wounds and his frail figure, all caused by the man she was cuddling up with just hours ago. The man she thought she knew better than anyone, the one that tricked her into feeling all those emotions. He weakened her with love. This was his plan all along. He knew he had Sageki and he did nothing to help him, to help her.

How could she fall for this trap?

She ran her hands through her hair and bawled her tears out under the disguise of the running water passing through her face from the showerhead.

Jugo sat outside of the bathroom just next to the door listening to her weeping. He now planned to keep strict supervision over her until Sasuke returned. He fumbled with the idea of telling Sasuke, convincing himself over and over again to keep it to himself. Sakura was powerless, he kept having to convincing himself. Whether or not she knew the prisoner was there- she was a prisoner herself, there was nothing she could do about it. The crying sobs of Sakura in the shower just reinforced his own beliefs in her weakness. She was harmless, Sasuke didn't have to know.

He was more concerned she would mention it to Sasuke. If he reached an agreement with her maybe she would understand that it wouldn't be in her best interest to bring it up with him.

Sakura opened the bathroom door in a towel and ignored Jugo as she dragged her feet to the bed. Jugo opened his mouth to address her but said nothing as she plopped on the bed face down, defeated by life.

Jugo could only sigh. His heart went out to this little defeated bunny.

He sat in the corner of the room in silence for a few minutes.

"...have you eaten?" He asked her, almost not expecting a response. After no response, he continued...

"Well, I was planning on making a few beef curry pies. We take those with us when we plan to go out of the base for a few days and"-

Sakura's head shot up from the bed suddenly.

"Roasted boar" she exclaimed like she hit an epiphany.

Jugo was silent in his confusion.

"I want to make the roasted boar I seasoned and marinated last night" Sakura said, sitting up on the bed and facing Jugo. This was a direct change in her behavior from a moment ago.

"Sasuke promised me he was going to come home tonight for dinner. I need to prepare for it" Sakura informed him with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice.

Jugo was slightly baffled but couldn't disagree with her, he didn't see anything wrong with chaperoning her in the kitchen until everyone returned.

"I'm not sure if he will make it back tonight…" Jugo informed her.

Sakura ignored him and bounced around to get dressed. She had her killer black dress she bought the other day. She found the bag of goods and retreated into the bathroom without saying a word to Jugo.

Jugo could only sit there in total hunger as Sakura continued in the bathroom. He was famished by the time she finally made an appearance.

Jugo looked up and was caught with his mouth open in disbelief.

Sakura walked out of the bathroom in a killer tight sleeveless black cocktail dress that ran to her knees. Her hair was curled into gorgeous wavy locks. The sealing ink was used as eyeliner and small drops of blood from her fingertips was smudged onto her cheeks to give her a rose blush.

Her face expressed no sadness, it was overcome with determination.

"Let's roast this pig" she spat with vengeance in her tone as she stood at the doorway.


End file.
